Society in the North has been on a journey from conflict to peace, and it is the responsibility of all political leaders to help to complete that journey. It is clearly not a task for a hurler on the ditch like the leader of Fianna Fáil. I wish he would do everyone a service and for once engage positively on the North and the necessary process across this island.

Today, I attended the funerals of Willie Lynch and Tara Gilbert, of their children, Kelsey and Jodie, and their unborn baby, and of Jimmy Lynch, all victims of a fire that killed ten citizens in the Travellers' halting site in Carrickmines. There were widespread expressions of sympathy after that, which provided some hope that the treatment of Travellers, not just in terms of housing, could begin being addressed in a serious way. Unfortunately, that hope was dented by the familiar negative attitudes as attempts were made to rehouse the families of the Carrickmines victims.

This underlines the need for a fundamental review of the treatment of Travellers and their community in Irish society, which should be Government-led. In the past seven years, funding for Traveller accommodation has been cut by 93%. Some 1,536 families are in overcrowded or unsafe conditions. Many Travellers have no access to basic facilities such as sanitation, water and electricity. They fare badly on all key indicators of disadvantage, including unemployment, poverty, health, infant mortality, life expectancy and education. At the root of all of this are the prejudice, discrimination and social exclusion experienced by these citizens. Public representatives of political parties in this Chamber have campaigned against the housing of Traveller families in their constituencies.

I have raised this matter with the Taoiseach a number of times. Will he consider establishing a genuinely island-wide forum at a State level with a Northern appendix as a matter of great urgency, involving Travellers, political parties, the Government, local authorities, the health and education sectors and media organisations, which would make recommendations on how this major issue of inequality could be tackled and addressed.

First of all, our sympathies go to the families again. The national flag flies at half mast on all public buildings today as a mark of sympathy and solidarity with the families that have lost their loved ones, all ten adults, children and an unborn baby. Clearly, the issue of Traveller accommodation has been very much to the fore. An audit is now being carried out of all Traveller halting sites throughout the country. Deputy Adams will be aware that accommodation is provided for Travellers through a range of measures, including the standard local authority housing financed by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government; Traveller-specific accommodation initiated by the Department; private housing assisted by the State, including local authorities and voluntary organisations; and Travellers' own resources.

The 2014 annual count of Traveller families showed that, of the 10,226 families that were accounted for here, the majority, 35%, were accommodated in standard social housing, 26% were in private rented accommodation, 5% were in assisted private housing, and 6% were housed under their own resources. Thirteen percent were in group housing, 9% were in shared accommodation, just 1% were in transient sites, and 4% were in unauthorised sites. Clearly, accommodation is an issue. I find, having dealt with this over the years, that where communities are engaged with and have the situation explained to them, be it an emergency or not, generally - although not in all cases by any means - there is a willingness to work with local authorities.

Deputy Adams is aware that the Government will provide funding for Traveller accommodation, but it is best delivered through the local authorities, where the local representatives know the local people and engage with Traveller families that may be accustomed to or have lived in a locality for quite a long time.

As to the point that the Deputy raises about the cross-Border issue, I do not think it is necessary to set up a new forum here. Both sides of the North-South forum - the ministerial forum - could actually have fed their views to the Traveller accommodation personnel, who would prepare a report on that. Maybe Deputy Mac Lochlainn does not agree. I am not sure that having another separate administrative operation is the way to go here. We have a system that does address a whole range of problems. I do not see why the Cena group or the Traveller accommodation groups down here could not work with their counterparts and feed in their views through the various Ministers for local government, the environment or whatever. Perhaps at the next meeting we might have an item on the agenda dealing with this to see how it might proceed.

I take the point about inequality and the treatment of individuals who happen to be Travellers, along with other groups that might be deemed to be fringe groups also. It is a serious challenge.

With respect, the Taoiseach does not take my point about inequality. These people are treated in a shameful way. Babies on the side of the road, no toilet facilities, no water, no beds, no prospects and no hope. That is how they are treated. It is good that the flag is flying at half mast, but this week the Connors family will bury loved ones: Thomas, Sylvia and their children Jim, Christy and Mary. There is nowhere to live. The masses will be on Thursday, the burials will be on Friday and the families will still be homeless. That is our responsibility.

On other issues in the past, the Taoiseach has shown leadership. He stood up and said that this was what we needed to do. Our society can be defined by the treatment of these citizens. The talks with the residents of Rockville Drive continue without resolution ten days later. It is time for an intervention. These families will only start to pick up the pieces when the funerals are finished, yet they still have nowhere to go to try to heal, mourn their loved ones and rebuild their lives.

I am suggesting a forum in this State, as there is none. I suggest that it be an all-Ireland forum, because at least some Travellers are nomadic. In the North, they have the status of an ethnic minority. In England, Scotland and Wales, they have the same status, but not here. I am not suggesting that this would be a cure for all of the problems, but the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality made a number of recommendations that still have not been acted upon 18 months later. I ask the Taoiseach to intervene and act on this issue.

I will return to what I was suggesting, namely, the bringing together of whomever the Taoiseach believes is appropriate. I have just made suggestions. The consultation must clearly involve the Travellers themselves, along with all the other responsible agencies and the Government, to deal with what the Taoiseach said was an issue of inequality. Some good can come out of these ten dreadful deaths, but only if the Government acts.

It will not bring back any of those who lost their lives, obviously. The carrying out of a national audit will bring its own revelations, I would expect.

A new housing approval body, Cena, has been set up and is to be in operation shortly. Every local authority has a five-year rolling programme in terms of what it proposes to do about Traveller accommodation, be it through the provision of social housing, private rented housing or halting sites. There are local Traveller accommodation consultative committees in every local authority area. They comprise people elected by the people to discuss the question of Traveller accommodation, education, social services, etc. They assist in the preparation of the five-year programmes that are to be set out and implemented by every local authority. The National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee is in place. Its members are appointed by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government under the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998. It has an independent chairman and comprises representatives from the various Departments and the County and City Management Association, and it is the national platform for Traveller accommodation consultation. It supports the local Traveller accommodation committees, it commissions relevant research on Traveller issues, such as those raised by the Deputy, and it provides an advisory role regarding national policy and strategy issues.

With regard to the unfortunate tragedy that occurred in Carrickmines, the programme to review fire safety and Traveller accommodation is always of particular importance. Some authorities have held initial meetings about the plan to prepare for the review or to take appropriate action to improve the position in halting sites or other forms of Traveller accommodation. That is not yet finalised.

There is a national body but the point is that while it is all very well to talk in here, it is the making of decisions that will allow for Traveller accommodation to be provided that meets resistance. I would have believed that, following this horrific tragedy in Carrickmines, the local authority wanting to put in place temporary accommodation for a six-month period in a location close to where the temporary halting site has been in place for eight years would have been acceptable under the conditions set out. I regret that has not happened. There are probably still discussions ongoing between the local authority and the people living there. I assure the Deputy that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, devoted considerable time to trying to achieve closure on this in the hope that the matter might have been sorted out before the funerals. Unfortunately, it has not been. Therefore, it is a question of being able to make decisions that will allow for appropriate accommodation and the provision of all the necessary facilities for Traveller people. After all, they are of the same nationality as ourselves.