(Dublin West): Amendment No. 13 outlines the extra facilities which should be provided on the sites referred to in section 29. Section 29 deals with the provision of temporary halting sites for travelling people who are awaiting transfer to a permanent location. It also deals with transient sites, which are set up for groups of travelling people who may be passing through or in an area for a particular period. Transient sites have not been developed by local authorities. If transient sites were developed, properly managed and well looked after, it would help to resolve many of the problems facing the travelling and settled communities in certain areas.

The problem with temporary sites where the travelling people are waiting to be permanently accommodated is that they remain the same for years and years. It is not adequate that families and individuals are obliged to live in these temporary sites and that the only facilities provided are cold water and sewage and waste disposal. It is shameful and shocking that some temporary sites in this city are shanty towns because of the lack of facilities. That situation must be urgently addressed.

We must insist on a higher level of facilities. The only extra facilities I want are electricity and public telephones. No one could argue against the fact that electricity is a basic necessity. It is not a major task to supply the bays in the sites with electricity. Meters could be found which would suit the location and circumstances. "Pay in advance" meters are used by the ESB and these would be suitable in such cases. Travelling people need generators. However, they are not satisfactory in places where families live together because they are noisy, dirty and dangerous, particularly if there are children in the area. Electricity terminals must be properly installed. The Government should indicate this to the local authorities through this Bill.

Public telephones are also a necessity. Many of these sites are not immediately adjacent to places from where people can telephone. It is essential that people have access to a telephone, particularly in emergencies or if old people or children suddenly become ill. It is a condemnation of this society that many children in these sites get more diseases than children in the settled community. The type and location of the telephone can be discussed with the people on the site. It will depend on whether there is a caretaker and on the arrangements at the site. Many of these sites are far away from places where such facilities are available. The minimum the Government should do is indicate there is some basic level of so-called civilisation to which travelling people are entitled and should have as a right. I hope the Minister of State will accept this group of amendments.

As explained on Committee Stage, the difficulty with these amendments arises from sound legislative practice developed over years of experience with inserting too much administrative detail in primary legislation. I assure the Deputies there is no difficulty with the practice or the intention behind the amendments.

However, there will always be the extenuating or exceptional case which a local authority could legally be prevented from dealing with if the primary legislation is too rigid or detailed.

The inclusion of the definition of "sites with limited facilities" is an enabling provision to allow the Minister to issue guidelines on the level of services and facilities to be provided on such sites. Guidelines for these sites are already being drafted in consultation with the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Group on which travellers are represented. The proposed guidelines will detail a range of services appropriate to different situations ranging from basic services at roadside encampments, services where families have to move to a temporary site where the existing accommodation is being redeveloped and services and facilities at sites where longer stays, pending the provision of permanent accommodation, are envisaged. It is proposed these guidelines will contain a range of matters of detail not appropriate for inclusion in primary legislation including appropriate references to the need to avoid stays by individual families for any longer than four or five years; the number of bays to be allowed on sites and the level of services to be provided on such sites. Guidelines in relation to transient halting sites, which come within the definition of sites with limited facilities, will also be prepared in consultation with the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Group.

Regarding amendment No. 13, I expect the level of services to be provided at transient sites or longer term temporary sites would at least be of the level proposed in the amendment. However "sites with limited facilities" also covers a situation where temporary facilities have to be provided during the redevelopment of a site or the construction of a new site. It may not always be feasible to safely supply electricity in such circumstances. Such a supply may not be necessary as travellers generally have their own electricity generators when they are travelling. Also, it may not be feasible to provide a public phone in these circumstances. Again in many cases it may not be necessary because of the availability of mobile phones. There have also been problems with maintaining public phones on sites for caravans and, in some cases, this service has had to be withdrawn because of recurring vandalism. In addition, I am not aware of any other statutory requirement on a local authority to provide a public telephone as part of its accommodation.

There is a drafting defect in Deputy Higgins's amendment as refuse collection is already covered by solid waste disposal. In view of the above it would not be appropriate to accept this amendment.