Pavee Point calls for a moratorium on evictions and on the use of Housing (Miscellaneous) Provisions Act 2002 – Trespass Act – which can be used to confiscate property and prosecute Travellers on the side of the road.
The issue of evictions is not unique to the Traveller community, but it is particularly acute for this group given the lack of suitable accommodation options and widespread discrimination they face in the private rental market. Many Travellers have resorted to living on the side of the road or in other unsuitable locations due to a lack of access to safe and secure housing. To address this issue, advocates have called for a range of policy solutions, including increased funding for Traveller-specific accommodation, anti-discrimination laws, and greater legal protections against eviction. For those interested in learning more about the housing challenges faced by marginalized communities such as Travellers, a guide scottsdale az homes may be a useful resource to explore. By educating themselves and others about these issues, individuals can work to support policies and initiatives that promote equitable access to housing for all.
“Travellers who are on the side of the road through no fault of their own and awaiting accommodation should not be criminalised and made face further hardship,” said Martin Collins, Pavee Point Director.
The calls come amid ongoing evictions today of 23 Traveller families from Woodland Park, Dundalk – an officially designated halting site – resulting in Traveller families living in unsafe conditions on the side of the road, in B&Bs and sleeping in cars.
These evictions fly in the face of promises to provide Travellers with culturally appropriate and safe accommodation. Louth County Council has succeeded in nothing only adding 70 people including 22 children and two pregnant women to the homeless list – causing distress and trauma.
“The money spent on these evictions should have been put to use to improve living conditions at Woodlands halting site – and not on evictions that lead nowhere,” said Martin Collins.
“Using fire safety issues at the Woodlands site is just a cover for moving on Traveller families,” added Martin Collins, “Louth County Council seem determined to get Travellers to move into social housing or private rented housing – and not halting sites. And they’re prepared to use a huge amount of resources to achieve this.
“The lack of Traveller specific accommodation is causing huge hardship to Traveller families around the country as people double and triple up on sites to avoid being on the side of the road. They pay rent to County Councils to live in their own trailers but have no running water and no sanitation services.
“Now we see local authorities cynically using the issue of fire safety to put Travellers in an even more precarious situation – making them homeless, subject to possible prosecution and causing further trauma to Traveller children and depriving them of their education.
“Fire safety issues can be managed while Travellers remain on site. In authorising Fire Safety Audit on Traveller sites in the wake of the Carrickmines fire tragedy Environment Minister Alan Kelly, TD said the broader issue of Traveller accommodation issues were not to be affected in a negative way. Now we have mass evictions going on.
“Travellers now forced onto the side of the road should not be criminalised for State inaction using the Trespass Act,” he added.