Taoiseach Enda Kenny has resolved to support the recognition of Traveller ethnicity, saying the Government will begin to take steps towards this end in the new year.

Mr Kenny told journalists on Wednesday he had asked Minister of State at the Department of Justice David Stanton to prepare a report for the social affairs committee on the question of recognising Traveller ethnicity.

He said that there were no constitutional bars to the move and that officials have looked at the experience in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

The report is expected in a few weeks, he said.

However, reliable sources told The Irish Times that Mr Kenny supports recognition and the Government will shortly start making legal preparations for the move.

Recognition as an ethnic minority has long been sought by representatives of the Traveller community but has been consistently refused by successive governments.

Traveller ethnicity

The

Oireachtas

Justice Committee recently held hearings on Traveller ethnicity and the previous committee, during the last Dáil, issued a report recommending that the State recognise Travellers as a distinct ethnic minority, though the Fine Gael-Labour government declined to act on its recommendations.

At the recent hearings, the Chief Human Rights Commissioner Emily Logan said the Council of Europe had contacted her with a view to visiting Ireland to investigate the treatment of Travellers.

The European Commission has also begun an investigation into possible breaches of EU rules on racial equality, which may result in legal action against the State.

Announcing its investigation last summer, the commission said: “Travellers appear to face discrimination in Ireland in a number of fields, including housing, employment and access to goods and services.”

A number of UN committees have also called on the State to recognise Traveller ethnicity in recent years, as have State bodies such as the Equality Authority and the Human Rights Commission.

Traveller activists have campaigned for many years for the State to recognise them as an ethnic minority.

Although Travellers have been specifically protected as a group by anti-discrimination laws, Traveller representatives say they still regularly experience discrimination in many aspects of their lives.

The Traveller advocacy group Pavee Point welcomed Mr Kenny’s statement.

In a statement, the group said: “Recognition of Traveller ethnicity will be a major step forward for Travellers, cultural diversity and equality in Ireland - especially in the centenary year of a Proclamation that promises to cherish all the children of the State equally.”

“This statement makes me proud to be Irish,” said Martin Collins, director of Pavee Point. “Finally our community will have the recognition we deserve.”