01 Introduction 01.1 Legislative Background Under the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998, each Housing Authority must prepare and adopt a 5-year Traveller Accommodation Programme (TAP). The TAP seeks to assess and address the accommodation needs of Travellers within each Local Authority's functional area. This TAP is for the period between 2025 – 2029 and replaces the previous 2019 to 2024 programme, which lapsed in December 2024. This is the sixth successive TAP prepared by Cork City Council. It was approved by Council and came into effect on the 20 th January 2025. In December 2023 the Minister issued ‘ Guidelines for the Preparation, Adoption and Implementation of Local Authority Traveller Accommodation Programmes 2025 – 2029’ , to guide Local Authorities in their efforts to deliver appropriate accommodation for the Traveller Community in Ireland. The Cork City Council TAP has been prepared in full accordance with these Guidelines and also has regard to other expert guidance. 1 01.2 Existing Context The previous TAP 2019-2024 recognised the specific pressures that arise in Cork City, with respect to accommodating a Traveller population that was traditionally rural and largely retains rural accommodation preferences. This pressure has increased in the preparation of TAP 2025-2029, which is now set in the context of a national housing and homelessness challenge, to which sections of the Traveller population are especially vulnerable. The extension of the Cork City boundary in 2019 has presented both opportunities and constraints with regard to the city’s Traveller population. There are challenges incorporating some families with strong rural affiliations into a metropolitan area.
Consistently through all the previous TAPs, the Council has sought to identify measures that would improve the lives of the Traveller Community across Cork City in recognition of the serious and complex challenges they face. The TAP 2025-2029, builds upon the aims and objectives of the previous plans and seeks to address the ever-changing Traveller environment. Travellers are an ethnic minority group within Ireland, that have their own distinct lifestyle, cultural beliefs, language and traditions that have been documented throughout Irish society for centuries. The formal recognition of Travellers as an ethnicity further reflects the distinct and specific needs of this minority group. Cork City Council is committed to promoting the equality and inclusion of Travellers, the Council has an Equality Action Plan and will implement the recommendations of the plan without delay. As such, the TAP 2025-2029 aims to bring together national and local policies to support this important ethnic group in our community. 01.3 The Traveller Population in Ireland Accurate demographic information is the key to successful planning for any population and a TAP is no exception. However, inconsistencies exist between available Census data regarding the Traveller population and the Annual Count of Traveller Families carried out by Local Authorities 2 . Improved communication between the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Local Authority Traveller Accommodation Units and Traveller organisations in the 2022 Census has led to improvements, but discrepancies still exist, making it more difficult to plan effectively and with certainty. In the 2022 Census the Irish Traveller population in the state was recorded as 37,826 3 persons, while the population identifying as “White Irish Traveller”
2 Traveller Accommodation Expert Review Report 2019 and Programme Board Reports. 3 Table F5072 in the 2022 Census.
1 Traveller Accommodation Expert Review Report 2019 and Programme Board Reports.
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Cork City Council | Traveller Accommodation Programme 2025-2029
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