Policies and strategies

Five submissions referenced policies and strategies both past and present, and/or advocated for specific policy approaches in relation to Traveller and Roma Communities (TVG, Cork; TEJP; CPPN; Pavee Point). TVG referenced “the damaging impacts of the 1963 Commission on Itinerancy Report” and recommended that the Irish state issue a formal apology for what they describe as the “profound negative impact” of historic state policies “on generations of Travellers, starting from childhood”.

Five submissions referenced the “National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy” (NTRIS) 2017- 2021 (TVG; Cork, TEJP; Pavee Point; CPPN; and NTP). A number of these submissions argued that the implementation of this strategy has been slow and attributed this to a lack of specific actions. Pavee Point wrote:

The Strategy contains no clear targets, indicators, outcomes, timeframes or associated budget lines, and a ‘whole of Government’ approach that would see driving its implementation by all state departments and with senior level participation has not materialised.

Pavee Point also recommend that an “ethnic identifier” be introduced in order to facilitate “ethnic equality monitoring” and to monitor the effectiveness of the NTRIS in achieving its objectives. CCPN recommended avoiding the word inclusion, which they argue “can easily be misread or misapplied as assimilation”.

CPPN was one of five submissions advocating for either increases to or the restoration of funding, for services or organisations working with the Traveller and Roma communities (TVG, Cork; TEJP; CPPN; NTP; and SJI). The NTP submission included details of funding cuts during the 2008-2013 period, and stated that: “The impact of this austerity on Travellers continues to linger up to the present time”. CPPN argue that the Department should work in partnership with the Traveller and Roma communities and that this would require the resourcing of such organisations: “this will entail the need for resourcing of community based supports such as Traveller-led Community Development and Traveller Support Organisations”. CPPN was one of three groups (along with Pavee Point and the NTP) that recommended further consultation with the Traveller and Roma communities, and ensuring that representatives from relevant organisations are included in policy making. These three groups advocated for a human rights based approach, which the NTP defined as: an “approach that establishes rights based on the International Human Rights Declarations”. DFA referenced ‘traveller and Roma inclusion’ as a component of ‘the broad human rights agenda’.

Four submissions advocated for or referenced a community work or youth work based approach (TVG, Cork; CPPN; Pavee Point; NTP). The NTP submission outlines a series of values associated with community development work which include:

Community empowerment and self-determination, Participation, Solidarity and networking, working collectively and working for collective outcomes, Interculturalism and the promotion of the Traveller community’s culture and ethnicity, Equality, Human rights and Anti-Discrimination, Social justice.

Three submissions referenced hate crimes and advocated for legislative reforms (TVG, Cork; TEJP; and Pavee Point). Pavee Point recommend that the Department, in partnership with the Department of Justice: “develop and enact effective and comprehensive hate speech and hate crime legislation that include Travellers and Roma in their protections”.

Both Pavee Point and the NTP endorsed the application of the “10 common principles of Roma inclusion” in public policy making and service provision. Pavee Point suggested there is a “lack of a Roma health or community development infrastructure”, in many public services or NGOs, or staff dedicated to addressing Roma issues. They suggested there is a “lack of interpretation and translation services”, which increases the vulnerability of Roma people in “accessing basic health services”, which is particularly concerning as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic.