The number of Traveller families living on unauthorised sites has fallen by more than 200 in the past three years, the Minister of State for the Environment, Mr Noel Ahern, said yesterday.
Releasing new figures on Traveller accommodation throughout the State, Mr Ahern said local authority housing programmes were "making a difference", although "there are still too many families awaiting permanent accommodation".
The figures, based on information supplied by local authorities, show the number of halting site bays increased by 206 to 1,398 between 2001 and 2003, and group housing units by 89 to 545.
When standard local authority housing and private housing are included, the number of families accommodated "by or with the assistance of local authorities" rises to 1,369 over the same period.
However, Mr David Joyce of the Irish Travellers' Movement accused the Minister of "massaging the figures", claiming nowhere near 1,300 families had been accommodated by local authorities in the past three years.
As for the claim that 229 families had been moved from the side of the road, or from other unauthorised sites, since 2001, Mr Joyce said: "That does not tally with the reality."
He pointed out that 598 Traveller families were now "doubling up", or house sharing. "Some of these would have been living in unauthorised sites as they don't have their own bays. When you add them to the number of families who are on unauthorised sites it comes to about 1,400, which means there has been an increase in the number of families without appropriate accommodation."
But Mr Ahern said "the Government and local authority commitment to pushing ahead with the Traveller accommodation programmes, adopted in 2000, is achieving results".
He also described as "most welcome" the "continuing reduction" in the number of families on unauthorised sites - down from 1,017 in 2001 to 788 by the end of November 2003.
He added the Government had made a "significant allocation" of €40 million - an increase of 33 per cent on the 2003 grant - for new and refurbished Traveller specific accommodation in 2004.
"This is in addition to the expenditure on standard local authority accommodation in which Traveller families will also be accommodated."
