IRISH TRAVELLER MOVEMENT INDEPENDENT LAW CENTRE Public interest law in action – using the law to face current challenges Dublin, 16 th April 2010 Siobhán Cummiskey, Managing Solicitor, ITM Law Centre

PART I ABOUT THE LAW CENTRE

Introduction to Law Centre  Established June 2009  Funded for 3 yrs by AP under PILA  Recognised Law Centre -SI No  1 of 6 Law Centres in the country  One employee – solicitor

Work of the Law Centre Work of the Law Centre 1.Legal Advice 2.Strategic case work 3.Legal Education 4.Policy Work

Legal Advice Phone queries Phone queries Local group referrals Local group referrals Legal Outreach Clinics Legal Outreach Clinics

Strategic Case Work  Education  Accommodation  Challenges to criminal trespass legislation  Provision and standards of permanent/temporary/transient accommodation  Recognition as an Ethnic Minority  Equality in Access to Services

Legal Education  Community Legal Education  Legal Pack for lawyers  Conferences and seminars

Policy Work  Oireachtas Committee on Travellers  Shadow Reports to Human Rights Bodies  Collective Complaint to European Committee of Social Rights

PART II TRAVELLERS AND THE RIGHT TO ACCOMMODATION

Types of Traveller Accommodation  Traveller Specific -Serviced Halting Site -Group Housing -Transient Sites  General -Local Authority Housing -Private house Purchase -Private Rented Accommodation

Relevant Law Traveller Specific  Section 13 Housing Act 1988 – gives council power to provide, manage and service sites for Travellers.  Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 – assess need, draft TAP, caravan loans, set up LTACC, acquire sites. General  All Housing Acts

The Issues 1.Failure to implement TAPS 2.Failure to provide and maintain culturally appropriate accommodation 3.Practice of forcing Travellers into standard accommodation 4.“Illegal” Evictions 5.Discriminatory practices in private rented accommodation 6.Discriminatory practices of govt bodies

1. Failure to Implement TAPs  Act states that local authority must produce TAP every 5 years  TAPs are unenforceable under 1998 Act (s.16 “reasonable steps to implement” but no sanction)  In ,100 units of Traveller specific accommodation assessed as needed  TAPs promise: 13 LAs new sites, 2 refurbishing sites, 5 transient sites

2. Failure to Provide/Maintain Culturally Appropriate Accommodation  Decline of nomadism: failure of local authorities to provide transient sites under s.10(3)(c) of the 1998 Act – only 5 LAs include them in their current TAPs  No facility for culture: Control of Horses Act 1996 – unlicensed horses on council or other land impounded

3. Practice of Forcing Travellers into Standard Accommodation  University of Limerick -v- Ryan & Ors HC “Section 13 [of the Housing Act 1988] must be taken to intend that the obligation of the Council to provide for housing needs extends …to the provision not of dwellings but of caravan sites”  Numbers of Travellers accommodated on halting sites has decreased year on year since 2003 (NTACC 2008 annual report)  PRA up 24% (LA Annual Count 2009)

4. “Illegal” Evictions  Roads Act, 1993-instantaneous can be carried out without your presence  Criminal Trespass-almost instantaneous, Garda direction  S.10 Housing Act-24 hour notice  EPA Act court order reqd  Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act 1948 – 2 convictions  Section 27 of the Planning Act injunction, court order  Current cases: Local govt (warning letter), Trespass (Judicial Review)

Evictions contd… UN Guidelines  Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-Based Evictions and Displacement UN 2007: appropriate notice, public hearing, no evictions in inclement weather/at night/prior to school exams, food and shelter after  Draft letter to Gardai ECHR – Article 8  Stanková v. Slovakia ECHR 2007 an eviction by a public authority without providing any alternative accommodation in violation of Article 8, despite the fact that it was in accordance with national law.  Current case: JR criminal trespass argues Article 8

5. Discriminatory Practices in PRA  Access to accommodation  Treatment of tenants  Current cases: cutting utilities (Equality Tribunal), changing locks (letter), breach of contract (PRTB)

6. Discriminatory Practices of Govt Bodies  License Agreements/Caretaker’s agt  Over 18’s policy  Planning permission  Current cases: caretaker’s agrt (letter), age (Equality Tribunal), PP (Judicial Review)

Further information  Law Centre website: (click on Law Centre)  Article on Travellers and Ethnicity:  Legal Pack on Law & Travellers:

IRISH TRAVELLER MOVEMENT INDEPENDENT LAW CENTRE 2010