A liaison group for Travellers in Kildare is hoping to eventually employ a full-time development officer following a study on accommodation and education needs of Traveller families which suggests many needs are still not being met.
Ms Elizabeth Trappe, spokeswoman for the Kildare Traveller Network, said there had been no group representing the interests of Travellers in the county until recently, apart from a successful drop-in centre in Athy.
The study, commissioned by the Kildare Traveller Network, suggests Travellers in Kildare still find themselves disadvantaged in terms of housing, education and other opportunities.
Some 51 per cent said they would prefer to be housed in a group scheme. One such local authority group scheme for Travelling families is due to be completed shortly.
At the time of the survey, 50 per cent of the families surveyed were either on the roadside or in unofficial sites.
Nearly 65 per cent of Travellers living in Kildare at the time of the survey were under 21 years. "That has huge implications for planning in the future, for education and accommodation," Ms Trappe said.
While they are well catered for at primary school level, she said she believed better "tracking" was necessary to see what happened once Travellers reached secondary school age.
Some 86 per cent who responded to the survey believed a higher level of education would give their children a better chance of a job.
A total of 62 per cent believed the most important educational need to be literacy skills.
Some 34 per cent of Travellers wanted their children to complete second level education and 28 per cent expressed a "definite interest" in some form of adult education. More than seven out of 10 were interested in taking part in a work scheme or some form of training.
A high proportion, 82 per cent, were satisfied with the health services available to them and were happy that they were treated with respect by those who work in the health area. Yet 94 per cent felt they were discriminated against generally.
While Ms Trappe accepted there has been some movement since the survey was carried out last year, she said the local authority's Traveller accommodation programme needs a greater impetus.
A spokesman for Kildare Co Council could not be contacted yesterday for comment on the current state of the programme.
Measures the Kildare Traveller Network would like to see in place in the near future include a primary health care programme similar to the one put in place by Pavee Point.
The group would also like to put itself on a more formal footing, rather than the ad hoc operation it has been to date, Ms Trappe says.
"Since the launch of our document, we have been given some Traveller health unit funding. We would hope to go towards getting a full time development worker to work on the needs of Travellers where they have been found wanting."
An application for funding has been made to the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs.