Kilkenny figure highlights 'grim statistics' and 'challenges' for minority group
Senator Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats) raised the issue in Seanad Éireann during Traveller Pride Week
Kilkenny senator Patricia Stephenson has requested a debate on Traveller rights in Ireland 'across the Oireachtas'.
In a speech in Seanad Éireann last week, she stated that 'Traveller rights are human rights'.
Senator Stephenson continued: "As a result, this is an issue we should all be speaking about across the Oireachtas.
"The Traveller community has a rich and resilient culture that has endured and contributed a great amount to Irish life, despite generations of exclusion, discrimination and erasure.
"On Monday, I attended the launch of a photography exhibition called 'Unfiltered' in Kilkenny by Gypsy Ray. It explored and captured the lives of the Kilkenny Traveller community over the last decade.
"While this week rightly honours the Traveller identity, we do need to acknowledge the continuous challenges the Traveller community faces.
"Just 1% of Travellers progress to third level education. Life expectancy for Travellers remains shockingly low compared with the settled population, as much as 15 years lower.
"Suicide rates are six times higher among Travellers than the settled population. Those are pretty grim statistics.
"Worse still, even when funding is allocated to address inequality, it has often gone unused.
"The Irish Traveller Movement has highlighted the persistent underspending of Traveller-specific budgets by local authorities and Departments. This is shocking in light of the inequality the community faces.
"I will spend the rest of my time today acknowledging the work of local Kilkenny poet Samantha Joyce by reading her poem 'Pavee Lackeen', which speaks volumes to the discrimination and resilience of the Traveller community."