62. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the PSEHRD assessment his Department has undertaken regarding reported difficulties by Travellers to open housing applications and retain open application (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26399/24]

The Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 provides that the role of my Department is to ensure that there are adequate structures and supports in place to assist housing authorities in providing accommodation for Travellers, including a national framework of policy, legislation and funding. The Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 provides that housing authorities have statutory responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller Accommodation Programmes (TAPs) in their areas.

As part of the work of the Programme Board, established to oversee the implementation of the recommendations of the Expert Review report, work is ongoing on a number of actions in relation to social housing for members of the Traveller community. In particular, Regulation S.I. 73 of 2022 came into operation on 14 March 2022 allowing for the inclusion of a Traveller identifier on the statutory Social Housing Support application. This will support the monitoring and oversight of assessment of social housing need and allocations of social housing to members of the Traveller community.