EU: The Council of Europe has adopted a resolution criticising the Government's failure to take agreed action to improve the position of Travellers and other minorities.
The Committee of Ministers of the 45-country body, which is independent of the institutions of the European Union and is home to the European Court of Human Rights, acknowledged that Ireland had made some efforts to improve the lot of Travellers in recent years.
"Notwithstanding these efforts, much remains to be done in particular in areas covering accommodation, education, employment, health care, and access to certain goods and services by members of the Traveller community," the resolution said.
Ireland has signed the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, which includes a system for monitoring the position of minorities in each country.
Yesterday's resolution raises concerns about a number of issues, including the slow progress in providing facilities such as halting sites for Travellers.
"There is a need to improve the level of participation of persons belonging to the Traveller and other communities in a range of different economic, social and political areas of life.
"To achieve this it will be necessary to collect further statistical information concerning these groups and involve them in the elaboration, implementation and monitoring of initiatives and policies affecting them," the resolution said.
The resolution asked the Government to respond to the issues raised.
It added that racism in Ireland "has become an issue of increasing concern, touching not only the Traveller community but also new immigrant communities".