People Before Profit Councillor Madeleine Johansson has called on South Dublin County Council to recognise the real needs of Travellers and provide transient sites for nomadic Travellers. The call came following the reply to a question submitted by Councillor Madeleine Johansson which outlined the councils response to issues raised by a report from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. In the report it was advised that the council should establish and develop a response to the needs of Travellers who are nomadic in the county. However, in the reply the council re-stated their “commitment in the TAP to prioritise the provision of Traveller specific accommodation to meet the current accommodation needs of Travellers in South Dublin ahead of provision of a transient site.”
Councillor Madeleine Johansson commented: “South Dublin County Council keep kicking the can down the road when it comes to providing transient sites for Travellers in South Dublin. The provision of such sites would allow Travellers to continue to live a traditional nomadic lifestyle, if they so wished.
“The council keep arguing that we first need to the meet the existing need, however the slow pace of development of Traveller Specific Accommodation means that those needs are never met. Instead there should be an acceleration of the Traveller Accommodation Programme and simultaneously a plan for transient sites should be progressed.
“While I welcome some of the measures being outlined in the reply such as the recruitment of a dedicated Traveller Liaison Officer, it is very disappointing that there are no proposals around the recognition of nomadism in the Traveller population. Providing transient sites would go a long towards not only recognising but also supporting the needs of Travellers in South Dublin.”
