No transient Traveller sites planned in Laois where housing target exceeded

Laois County Council delivered more than double the targeted amount of new homes for travellers in the past five years but says identifying sites and anticipating demand is difficult.

The local authority has published a draft Traveller Accommodation Programme 2025-2029 as part of its legal obligations under the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998.

The report says that the number of usually resident Irish Travellers increased by 6% in Census 2022 to 32,949. It says there are 812 Travellers in Laois in Census 2022 compared with 780 in 2016, up 4%.

The Council's 2023 Traveller Families Annual Estimate found that 223 Traveller households were residing in the county. Of these, 198 were in standard local authority housing, group housing and owner-occupiers, two families were residing in private rented accommodation, 13 were sharing with family/ friends. Just four families were in halting site accommodation and six were living on the roadside/ unauthorised sites.

In terms of Traveller specific accommodation, there are two Traveller group housing schemes - in Mountmellick and Portarlington. There is just one official halting site at Clonminam, Portlaoise.

The report says a majority of Laois Travellers have had a strong preference for standard social housing. It says Laois County Council "well exceeded" the targets during the lifetime of the 2019 – 2024 plan.

A total of 91 units were provided while the target for the provision of 37 units. It is the most significant scale of deliver since the Celtic Tiger years. The council provided 72 homes between 2000 and 2004 when just 17 were promised.  

As for the next five years the Council has set a target of 37 homes. The provision of three additional bays at Oak Park Halting Site Portlaoise is likely to be included. The overhaul of the site was due to be completed under the existing plan but the goal has not been reached.

The council envisages that it will meet the housing needs of travellers through the allocation of newly built and casual vacancies of the Council and Approved Housing Bodies and where necessary acquisitions.

At the June 12, 2024 there were 16 open applications on the waiting list for members of the travelling community.

Only five families attended for an assessment of housing need despite being given several opportunities to do so. All the families who attended for assessment were very clear in their preference for standard local authority housing. The majority of the families on the waiting list share accommodation with their extended family

The council says it is "not possible to accurately predict the projected need" during the duration of the new programme but it does anticipate that 110 Travellers living in Laois will reach adult age by 2025. 

The council says the records for temporary dwellings for the past five years were reviewed to establish if there was a need for a transient site. The local authority says it was established that the provision of such a site in the county is not currently required.

The report says there are difficulties faced in housing Travellers.

"The identification of suitable sites for the provision of Traveller Specific Accommodation is a challenge for the Local Authority. Sites owned by Laois County Council may be used for this purpose and additional sites may be acquired, if required, subject to availability of funding," it says.

The Council says  it recognises Travellers’ identity as an indigenous minority ethnic group and adds that it is its policy, within the resources available, to directly provide accommodation to Travellers by the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act

1998.

The local authority says it will continue to work with and support Laois Traveller Action Group in relation to accommodation / housing issues.

The Draft Traveller Accommodation Programme 2025-2029 is available for public inspection during normal business hours from 2nd July, 2024 to 2nd September, 2024 inclusive, at County Hall in Portlaoise and all public libraries in the county.