The need for Traveller specific accommodation has been highlighted by the Government in its housing and homelessness plan, Rebuilding Ireland, launched today.
This acknowledgement of the crisis in Traveller accommodation means the Housing Agency will commission an independent review of funding for Traveller specific accommodation within the context of local authority Traveller Accommodation Programmes. This review is to be completed by the end of the year.
The Housing Agency promises to identify the challenges that need to be addressed to bring about future progress in providing Traveller specific accommodation – recognition that a new impetus is needed to help an estimated 5,000 Travellers living in sub-standard, overcrowded conditions or facing eviction with no place to go.
In ‘Rebuilding Ireland’ the Government says that a new working group will also be set up at the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee to audit the implementation and delivery of future Traveller Accommodation Programmes to begin its work at the end of the first quarter of 2017.