Results 321-340 of 1,060,671 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Denis Naughten OR speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh OR speaker:David Stanton OR speaker:Verona Murphy OR speaker:Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire OR speaker:Brendan Howlin OR speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív OR speaker:John Lahart)

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

David Stanton: I am a Deputy, not a Minister. That ship has sailed.

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

David Stanton: Could I stop Dr. Joyce there? When I was a garsún, which was a few years ago, Traveller people moved around. They called to farms – I was on a small farm – and they did seasonal labour. They were welcome, in the main, but that seems to have changed in more recent times. The racism Professor Haynes spoke about seems to have got worse in recent times. In the past,...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

David Stanton: I will get back to the justice side of it because I have some questions on that as well, but I am looking at the overall societal and sociological situation. Has any research been done in the general population as to why people have such a racist view of Travellers, including in the Garda Síochána? Why are the views of the Garda Síochána and the general population as the...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

David Stanton: That particular piece of work is important. A lot of the reaction of politicians comes from the people. I know we also have a duty to lead, but it also comes from below. If there is a rumour, for instance, that a Traveller family is going to be housed in a certain place, we will get a lot of telephone calls. If what Professor Schweppe just said could be focused on and dealt with, that...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

David Stanton: I know I do not have much time left but are the witnesses aware of any work undertaken by An Garda Síochána or the courts to improve relationships with the Traveller community? Is anything proactive going on there?

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Does Deputy Stanton have another question?

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

David Stanton: I have a final question. We have minority indigenous populations in different parts of the world that have also experienced the kind of discrimination that has been outlined. Are there any examples of best practice in any of those locations that have focused on trying to help or to resolve matters?

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Dr. Joyce is eager to come in.

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I thank Dr.Joyce for that. I have a few questions. The witnesses mentioned stop and search. There is a system in Northern Ireland where people are given a little ticket. This does not stop discriminatory stop-and-search activities. We know from those tickets that it is happening proportionately in very strong nationalist areas and in areas where there are republicans. We know it is...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: The PSNI has to publish it, by law.

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I should be done for everybody. We should not take an ethnic identifier. If those who are stopped and searched want to come forward then, they can do so. I deal with Travellers all the time. One slight concern I have is that it would be like being stopped and asked if you are from the Gaeltacht. It is like the day I was stopped in London. I was going to visit a certain famous historic...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: That is a different issue. The census is totally voluntary and there is no pressure.

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: We will move on. One thing that keeps becoming apparent is the huge number of prisoners who, in general, go in for less than a year. That includes a very high number of Travellers. Of course, in most cases, sentences of less than a year are perceived as counterproductive because people do not get any education or training. It is hard to engage in such a short period. There is a view that...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: There was a point to my question. I accept what has been said. It is a different subset that I will be focusing on. We have to take actions that reduce the number of short-term offenders who are in prison. It would be of great assistance to Travellers because they form a disproportionate number of those offenders. I am speaking about both men and women because we know that many women are...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: If we dig into those figures, how many were in prison for theft to feed an addiction?

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Should it be a pathway to a rehabilitation home for addiction, which would also resolve the other issue?

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: Fr. Micheál Mac Gréil and others carried out sociological work. Fr. Mac Gréil carried out a detailed and comparative study. He could have told you about every group in Irish society, including non-Irish, Irish, unionists and everybody else. Therefore, you could see that Travellers came out the worst. We know that societal attitudes are very anti-Traveller. We have been...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: What I am saying is that you are not going to find an official record of that on the other side.

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: We in this House are used to getting answers to questions that suit the system. We try to get to the issues but others tell us to hang on for a second, that they have gone through every file in the place and cannot find any evidence.

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Irish Travellers’ Access to Justice Report: Discussion (3 Oct 2024)

Éamon Ó Cuív: I want to ask a question, particularly of people working on the ground who have experience. People come to me with a complaint about a hospital or anything. Some are willing to go the long road but my experience is that many people want a quick fix. Complaints processes can take forever. Making a complaint to the Ombudsman takes much longer than it used to. The processes are much more...