I also wish to raise the review of fire safety in Traveller accommodation that the Government published in December 2015 following the Carrickmines tragedy which said very clearly that nothing in the fire safety review process was intended to be used to address the broader Traveller accommodation issues in a negative way. Clearly this is not a green light to evict Travellers from halting sites which do not meet fire safety standards, but instead of putting health and safety measures in place, that is exactly what the local county executive is doing, and more evictions are planned for tomorrow.

Thank you, Deputy. I think you have had your chance now.

I ask the Taoiseach, in keeping with the commitments, if he will make a statement before the Dáil ends, as the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, promised, to recognise Travellers as an ethnic group. I ask that he request that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government stop the eviction of these citizens.

I would suggest you raise that as a Topical Issue matter.

The question of ethnicity has not come before the Government for discussion but was referred to at a Cabinet sub-committee and there is further work to be done there.

In respect of the serious matter the Deputy has raised about Traveller accommodation, I would point out that the site in question was unoccupied since 2008 and there was serious deterioration. It was occupied in April of 2014. After an inspection of the site last November, the fire officer formed the opinion that it was dangerous in its manner of occupation, and that is clearly a serious issue. I understand that after notices were ignored, gardaí on Friday attempted to enforce the direction by moving on some of those caravans. The occupants and their representative group have not entered into discussion with Louth County Council, as far as I know.

Yes, they have. I was there yesterday.

We cannot have a discussion on the matter.

That is where this needs to be dealt with in the first instance. We cannot have a situation where a fire officer says this is a fire hazard and it continues to be occupied.

Then rectify it. Do not put them out on the street.