Deasy suggests birth control to limit traveller numbers

THE problem of travellers would not be solved by providing more halting sites, a Fine Gael TD said.

Mr Austin Deasy (Waterford) said the only solution lay in ensuring, through birth control, that their numbers were contained and in accommodating the existing community of travellers in conventional houses.

He disagreed with the recommendation made by the Task Force on the Travelling Community that there should be more halting sites. The task force was engaging in "wishful thinking" and had failed to address the underlying problem.

"This is not a great subject to speak your mind on. You will be accused of inflammatory statements," he said. But the truth must be faced. Figures he received in written Dail replies revealed that in 1960 there were 1,000 traveller families. By 1975 that number had increased to 1,700 and in 1991 it was in excess of 3,000. It was reasonable to expect that in 30 years there would be another tripling of the numbers.

It was not practical to attempt to put all travellers into huge estates, but they could be assimilated into existing housing estates. In rural areas they could be accommodated in single housing units.

The experience with halting sites was disastrous. They became overcrowded and dirty and were totally unsatisfactory. He knew of one traveller who said he could no longer tolerate the conditions at a Site in Waterford for his family and was planning to leave and live on the side of the road. It would be preferable, he said, to enduring the conditions on the halting site.

In the longer term, travellers should be given birth control to bring about a reduction in numbers. Among the travelling community many young women were not aware of birth control methods and this led to them having families of 12 or more.

Mr Sean Ryan (Lab, Dublin North) said the State should make more funds available to keep halting sites clean.

Mr Brendan McGahon (FG, Louth) said that in the Border area families of travellers arrived from Northern Ireland and overt crowded the local halting sites.

The Minister for Equality and Law Reform, Mr Taylor, said halting sites were not a solution but they were a step in that direction. He could not agree that the movement of travellers should be controlled. They were citizens with constitutional rights some were criminals but so were some members of the settled community and, had to be dealt with accordingly.

Neither could he accept Mr Deasy's statement about large families. "It is their lawful right to have large families. Many members of the settled community have large families, too."

He agreed information on contraception should be made available but that applied to the community as a whole and not just to travellers.

The Government's plans for dealing with travellers extended beyond accommodation and included health, education, employment and antidiscrimination measures. These were important elements in the plan to bring about a better relationship between travellers and the settled community.