On Wednesday, Pavee Point and the National Traveller Women’s Forum (NTWF) submitted a joint submission to the consultation on the Child and Family Homelessness Action Plan, being developed by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The submission sets out the disproportionate impact of homelessness and accommodation insecurity on Traveller and Roma children and families.
Highlighted are the increased risks of homelessness for Traveller and Roma women that follow from the slow implementation of Traveller-specific accommodation commitments; high poverty and deprivation rates; and the combined impacts of racism, sexism, discrimination in housing, and exposure to domestic, sexual and gender‑based violence.
The submission raises serious concerns about proposed changes to the Housing Act 1988 that would introduce habitual residency conditions for emergency accommodation. Pavee Point and the NTWF believe this would undermine the State’s compliance with international human rights obligations, and push many Roma children out of homeless services with no alternative to rough sleeping on the street.
The submission sets out a range of practical recommendations, including:
— Explicitly naming Travellers and Roma as priority groups within the Action Plan, with clear targets, timelines and dedicated funding for culturally appropriate accommodation and homelessness initiatives.
— Accelerating delivery of new Traveller-specific accommodation and strengthening monitoring and accountability measures.
— Introducing ethnic equality monitoring across all housing and homelessness data systems, where an ethnic identifier is a universal question (asked of all applicants, not only certain ethnic groups) and the collection and use of data is conducted within a human rights framework with clear guidelines and training for staff.
— Aligning the Action Plan with existing commitments under NTRIS II, the Traveller Accommodation Expert Review and TAPs, to avoid fragmentation of actions and their implementation across departments and agencies.
— Embedding gender-responsive, culturally appropriate and anti-racist approaches across prevention, emergency responses and exits from homelessness.
— Reinstating targeted supports for Traveller and Roma women, including those at risk of domestic violence or leaving prison.
— Opposing proposed amendments to the Housing Act 1988, to require habitual residency as a condition for accessing emergency accommodation.
— Applying the broader ETHOS definition of homelessness which includes: rooflessness, houselessness, living in insecure accommodation, and living in inadequate accommodation and which more effectively captures hidden homelessness, particularly overcrowding and doubling up.
You can access the submission here: Joint Submission to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Photo: Derek Speirs