I apologise to the Senator. Perhaps by the end of Saturday night she might be glad to be from Mayo.

Hear, hear.

I raise the urgent issue of fire safety in Traveller accommodation. On 10 October last year ten citizens tragically lost their lives in a fire in Carrickmines. Those who died were Willie Lynch and Tara Gilbert, with their daughters, Kelsey and Jodie; Willie's brother, Jimmy; Thomas and Sylvia Connors and their children, Jim, Christie and six-month-old Mary. In the wake of the tragedy a national fire safety audit of all Traveller accommodation was ordered. The report from the national directorate of fire and emergency management was published in recent days and found that over 80% of the units inspected had no smoke alarm or fire blanket. It also indicated that access for fire services to sites was a concern in just under one third of cases, with separation distances, in other words, overcrowding, a concern in over one half of cases. Furthermore, it noted that protecting people from the dangers of fire was particularly challenging in the confined and cramped conditions in which families living in caravans or non-standard accommodation might find themselves. Unofficial and roadside halting sites were the most vulnerable to lapses in the context of fire safety and inappropriate access. These are the categories which were most likely to be missed in the audit and the real picture is probably worse than the report indicates. Currently, 534 families are living in unofficial, unrecognised and unserved accommodation.

In May 2016 the European Committee of Social Rights found the Irish Government to be in violation of Article 16 of the European Social Charter on five grounds, including the insufficient provision of accommodation for Travellers, and concluded that a number of sites were in poor condition, lacked maintenance and were badly located. According to the director of the Irish Traveller Movement, Mr. Bernard Joyce, with whom I am working, Travellers' quality of life, physical and mental health are linked with the quality of their accommodation. Fire safety protection is a basic entitlement.

Since the devastating fire in Carrickmines, there have been other fires on halting sites and more people will die unnecessarily unless something is done. Rebuilding Ireland commits to an expert, independent review of capital and current funding for Traveller-specific accommodation which is needed, but the plan does not reference the scale of the project or the investment needed to bring it up to standard. I back the call of the Irish Traveller Movement for the Minister with responsibility for housing to prioritise the issue of overcrowding on sites as a matter of urgency and address the issues raised in the European Social Charter. I also urge the Leader of the House to raise the issue directly with the Taoiseach who attended some of the funerals because another tragedy similar as the one in Carrickmines can and must be prevented.