Urgent Law Reform is needed to give effect to the Recommendations of European Human Rights Commissioner on Traveller Accommodation and Evictions

26 February 2025

Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, published a memorandum on 25 February 2025 on the human rights situation of Travellers and Roma in Ireland.
The Commissioner has called for the repeal of eviction laws which disproportionately impact Travellers, improved conditions on halting sites and the reform of Traveller Accommodation planning laws.
These recommendations echo repeated calls made by FLAC (which operates a Traveller Legal Service) for an overhaul of laws concerning Traveller evictions and accommodation. FLAC is disappointed at the Government’s failure to commit to the long overdue law reform required by our international human rights obligations in this area.

FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres) has welcomed the recommendations of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights for improving the human rights situation of Travellers and Roma in Ireland.

The issues highlighted by Commissioner O’Flaherty in his memorandum are consistent with the experience of FLAC’s Traveller Legal Service and Roma Legal Clinic. For example, the memorandum calls for strengthened legal aid for Roma and Travellers victims of discrimination. FLAC’s Roma Legal Clinic is overwhelmed by requests for assistance from Roma people (particularly Roma women) who have experienced discrimination.

FLAC is especially pleased to see that the Commissioner’s recommendations echo our calls for “meaningful legal changes in the areas of Traveller accommodation” which we made in a detailed submission to the Oireachtas Committee on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community last year. However, the Government’s written response to the Commissioner’s memorandum does not include any commitments to the necessary law reform in this area.

FLAC Managing Solicitor, Sinéad Lucey, commented:

“The Commissioner has called for the repeal of laws which allow for the eviction Traveller families living on the roadside with no procedural safeguards. There are several laws that allow for such evictions. Other international bodies such as the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, as well as national human rights organisations, have also called for their removal. A complete review of such laws is long overdue in light of the decision of the European Social Rights Committee against Ireland in relation to Traveller Accommodation, and the decision of Supreme Court in the McDonagh case regarding the constitutional rights of Travellers living on unauthorised sites and who are facing eviction.

While the Government response to the memorandum refers to the development of ‘protocols’ and several policy-based initiatives, nothing less than concrete law reform will suffice in this area if Ireland is to comply with our human rights obligations. A new Traveller Accommodation Bill should reform eviction law, as well dealing with the planning, delivery and standards of Traveller Accommodation. It should remove the barriers which Travellers face in accessing social housing and emergency accommodation and provide a remedy for discrimination and racial profiling which is encountered in those contexts. FLAC is one of a number of bodies who stand ready to support the preparation and passage of such legislation”.

Notes:

The Commissioner’s memorandum and the Government’s response may be accessed here.

FLAC’s written submission to the Oireachtas Committee on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community may be accessed here.

FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres) is an independent human rights and equality organisation, which exists to promote access to justice. As an Independent Law Centre, FLAC takes on a number of cases in the public interest each year and operates a Traveller Legal Service and Roma Legal Clinic. FLAC also operates a legal information and referral telephone line and a nationwide network of legal advice clinics where volunteer lawyers provide basic free legal advice.

Since 2017, FLAC has provided targeted and specialised legal services for members of the Traveller community. In early 2020, FLAC (in cooperation with a Steering Group made up of representatives from each of the national Traveller organisations) established a dedicated a Traveller Legal Service, supported by The Community Foundation.

In each year since 2017, access to accommodation has emerged as the single most prevalent issue amongst people seeking legal assistance from FLAC’s targeted legal services for Travellers. During its first two full calendar years in operation, the TLS dealt with over 100 housing queries.

FLAC frequently represents Traveller families in cases concerning access to social housing, Traveller-specific accommodation and emergency accommodation - as well as cases concerning the adequacy of each of those forms of accommodation and cases where Travellers living on the roadside are subject to eviction proceedings.

FLAC’s 2024 submission to the Oireachtas Committee on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community made recommendations for:

Enhancing the planning process and ensuring delivery of Traveller accommodation.
Preventing evictions of Traveller families living on the roadside with no procedural safeguards.
Introducing minimum standards for all forms of Traveller accommodation.
Ensuring that the conditions for access to social housing and emergency accommodation do not indirectly discriminate against Travellers.
Ensuring that there is an effective remedy for racial profiling and discrimination in the housing context.