The controversial trespass legislation allowing gardaí to seize and impound Traveller caravans without a court order is unjust and should be repealed, according to Prof William Binchy.
A member of the Irish Human Rights Commission, Prof Binchy was speaking at a seminar yesterday in Ennis aimed at identifying a solution to the Traveller accommodation crisis in Co Clare.
Currently, there are 16 homeless Traveller families illegally parked at Clare County Council's proposed new €33 million headquarters. The families have no sanitation or refuse services.
Prof Binchy said: "The cure to this problem is the repeal to the legislation. It turns homeless Travellers into criminals where Traveller children have nowhere to go to school and you also have people sleeping in the backs of their cars because their homes have been taken away. It is appalling." Under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provision) Act 2002 enacted earlier this year, if found guilty of the offence, individuals may be fined €3,000 or imprisoned for one month. The legislation is being challenged on behalf of a number of Ennis-based Traveller families.
Prof Binchy said: "The legislation is totally unjust and comes against a background of social neglect and situations where councils are in breach of their statutory duty by not providing accommodation for Travellers."
Ms Grainne O'Toole of the Irish Traveller Movement said: "Ennis is one of the highest areas where the trespass law is being enforced and given the fact that this is being done where Travellers have no accommodation, we would condemn that."
On the €12 million being spent to accommodate 53 Traveller families, as part of the council's Traveller Accommodation Programme, Ms O'Toole said: "Only one of the six sites has been delivered under the programme and progress has been too slow.
"What the council should do is provide emergency accommodation in the short term to alleviate the pressure on the Travellers."
Travellers have protested each day for the past number of weeks outside the council's offices. Yesterday, Traveller and mother of three Ms Winnie Mongans said: "I can't see any movement by the council to provide emergency accommodation."
Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind), a member of the council's Traveller consultative committee, said the council is endeavouring to identify a solution for the homeless families. With work ongoing at two sites and work scheduled to commence on a further two shortly, she said: "It is starting to come together and hopefully in the next 12 months, we will see a vast improvement to the situation."
