I am very grateful for the opportunity to raise the issue of the closure and liquidation of the Southside Traveller Action Group, STAG. STAG has provided support to the Traveller community in my constituency and neighbouring constituencies for four decades. It provides support for some of the most marginalised people in our country, through periods when Travellers have faced horrific racism and abuse, a structural lack of support from the State and unimaginable tragedies such as the Carrickmines fire in which ten people tragically lost their lives. The announcement that STAG is closing has resulted in feelings of anger, betrayal and devastation for the Traveller community because for 40 years it has been helping Travellers with education, health supports, housing advocacy, employment and training programmes and after-school programmes. I understand that issues have arisen within the organisation and that the governance of the organisation is not for discussion in this Chamber. However, what is clearly within our scope is ensuring that Travellers in south Dublin continue to have the services they have relied on for over 40 years. We need to make sure the relevant Departments of equality, justice and social protection across government work together with the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to ensure the Traveller community itself is not penalised due to a situation it has not created. We need to ensure that education and health supports, housing advocacy and employment and training programmes for Travellers in my area continue and that there is a premises for these activities to take place. These supports are vital for a community that has worse employment, educational and health outcomes and a much lower life expectancy than the settled population. If we are serious about equality, we need to address these issues for the Traveller community. STAG has been a huge part of that response in south Dublin for 40 years, and it is absolutely vital that any dissolution of the organisation does not leave these issues and that work abandoned. I worked a lot on Traveller issues during my time in the human rights sector, and I have to say, it was an absolute privilege to work with groups such as the Southside Traveller Action Group from across Ireland that really provide for the gap in services I have described, which the State unfortunately as of yet does not provide for. The Traveller community is structurally vulnerable. What I mean by that, because the Traveller community is a very proud people and community, is its members face discrimination in areas across Irish life. They face racism that is the last accepted racism in our society, particularly in areas like mine where historically, political leaders have not shown the kindness to Travellers that we expect and Travellers deserve, and recognition of the racism and discrimination they experience in all spheres of Irish life. Attitudes of NIMBYism are not dealt with by political leaders and, in some instances, they are even fomented by political leaders within my constituency. This is an opportunity for me and my constituency colleagues to show up for the Traveller community in Rathdown and specifically help put forward solutions when the Southside Traveller Action Group is in crisis. I really want to work with Government on this. I want to work with the Minister of State or whoever is responsible for this area to find a solution and show up for this delicate community.

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I thank the Minister of State. The Minister of State mentioned the governance issues that have arisen. This organisation has operated for 40 years and the governance and running of the organisation was done very well during that time. I have worked with many of these groups and it is against all odds sometimes that they survive with very little funding, a lot of volunteer power, and community spirit driving them forward. The has been operating and functioning well as an organisation for many decades. It is crucial to not to lose sight of that while dealing with the current issues that arise. I am seeking assurance that, as the Minister of State mentioned all the funders being conscious of the need to ensure services are delivered to the community, that they remain accessible and that the needs of the Traveller community continue to be prioritised and met. That means those services must be provided by alternative organisations, by the council and by funding that comes from elsewhere across Government while this issue is being dealt with. I appreciate this is a complex issue and something that needs input from multiple sources but I want to make sure some of the good work is not lost in regard to things like the lease this organisation has, which I believe may be under threat if we do not get a solution in place fast enough. This is the kind of thing I would urge Government and the Minister to look at to make sure the 40 years of really hard work by the Southside Travellers Action Group is not lost because of the crisis that arisen over the past year or so. For me, the difficulty is that we know how hard it is. This is one of the first groups that was ever set up to provide these services to Travellers in Ireland. The thought that we would lose that infrastructure and continuity is really devastating. One thing I really want to emphasise is that the Minister should really seek to maintain that continuity.

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