More than €4 million has been allocated to local authorities to provide accommodation for Traveller families, with almost a quarter of the funds to be used to house Travellers in Dublin.
However, no money has been allocated for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, despite the council having designated 11 sites for Traveller accommodation 18 months ago, including one at Mount Merrion earmarked for Traveller accommodation since 1985.
The money has been designated by Minister of State for Housing Paudie Coffey for Traveller-specific accommodation, including group housing and halting sites for Traveller families.
Under construction
The money will be used to start construction on new schemes that have approval from the Department of the Environment, as well as continued funding of projects currently under construction, with a small amount of money used to settle accounts on completed projects.
Fingal County Council has been allocated €645,000 for three projects, while Dublin City Council is to spend more than €366,000 on five separate schemes.
South Dublin County Council has not been allocated funds, but it said it is "taking the matter up with the department" as it has a number of proposed projects which it submitted.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown has not been allocated funds, with the department saying the local authority had made no application and has “no contractual commitments” or final accounts requiring funding.
Vacant since 2009
A spokeswoman for the council said it was focusing on the refurbishing of Glendruid Group Housing Scheme, an existing Traveller site which has been vacant since 2009 “to satisfy the existing need for accommodation in the county”.
Other schemes would be dependent on future funding from the department, she said. The site at Mount Anville Road, in Mount Merrion, is one of 11 listed to provide 48 units of accommodation as part of the council’s five-year Traveller accommodation plan.
The others are at Cloragh in Rathfarnham; Enniskerry Road in Sandyford; Glenamuck Road in Kilternan; Lehaunstown near Cherrywood; Pottery Road in Dún Laoghaire; Rathmichael Road near Cherrywood; Stillorgan Grove in Stillorgan; the West Pier at Dún Laoghaire Harbour; and a site at UCD.
All 11 sites with 48 units of accommodation were proposed as part of the previous five-year accommodation programme but were not progressed.
