Over 60% Of Traveller Accommodation Has Unsafe Connections - Audit

Over 60% of Traveller accommodation has unsafe electrical connections, according to a recent fire safety audit.

The Green Party is urging all agencies work together to address the inequalities.

Green Party Spokesperson on Community and Local Government Cllr Malcolm Noonan said that Local Authorities should be compelled to adhere to mandatory targets for accommodating Traveller families, ensuring that all group housing and halting sites have adequate fire prevention measures and that all Traveller families have access to water and proper sanitation.


He said: "We recognise the scale of the challenge involved here, but Government and Local Authorities are failing the Traveller community. Very often political interference is preventing the allocation of housing. This must be stopped and a programme put in place that sets mandatory targets for construction of dwellings and group housing schemes. We are not in favour of stripping more powers away from Local Government. Local liaison with families and the wider community is essential.

"What is most worrying in the midst of a housing crisis is that more Traveller families are finding themselves homeless with 89 more families living on roadsides since 2014. Unless all agencies work together to address these inequalities, we will never break the now endemic cycle of poverty that permeates life for Travellers in Ireland."

(CD/LM)