Pilot caravan-loan scheme in Cork is falling ‘well short’

Travellers are waiting six to eight months to get water and heating set up in trailers for which they had to borrow €40,000 to buy. The Cork Traveller Visibility Group (TVG) has called the system “discriminatory”.

A report by the joint committee on issues affecting the Traveller Community looks at the caravan-loan scheme, which began with a pilot in Cork city in 2021 and via which Travellers take out a loan from the council to purchase a trailer and repay monthly.

In 2023, Cork City Council allocated just five trailers.

Brigid Carmody, of Cork TVG, told the committee: “We work with some families who do not have their mobile homes connected to water or heating. People are waiting six to eight months to get heating and water.

“If a family takes out a €40,000 loan through the caravan-loan scheme, and it is not connected up to heating — and in this weather the damp will be setting in — the caravans do not last the length of the loan, because they start rotting before they are paid off.”

John O’Sullivan, of Cork TVG, said that since the scheme was launched, 37 applications have been made in Cork city, while only five loans have been allocated, and that it will take seven years to provide a loan to the remaining 32, not accounting for people who apply in future.

Mr O’Sullivan said: “Travellers should not be asked to take out a €40,000 loan for a temporary accommodation solution, while they await long-term accommodation. They are the only ethnic group being asked to take out a loan for a social-housing option. We feel this practice is discriminatory and not fit for purpose.”

Breda O’Donoghue, of Cork TVG, agreed: “We are caught between a rock and a hard place, in that we do not want the scheme. We think it is discriminating against families. There are families in dire need.

“However, nobody wants to take out a €40,000 loan to accommodate themselves. I believe it should be scrapped and we should look at a rental scheme. It is not working and there are not enough loans to meet the need anyway, even if it was working.”

Brian Geaney, assistant chief executive of Cork City Council, told the committee that a loan of €40,000 is insufficient for the purposes of purchasing a first-hand trailer of suitable size, quality, and durability.

Sinn Féin Cork East TD Pat Buckley, a member of the committee, told The Echo: “Some Travellers are happy to live in a house, but, for others, it’s a cultural thing and they’d prefer a trailer. It’s about just giving them a choice, and it’s a rights-based thing: They’re entitled to proper homes.”

The committee concluded: “Members of the Traveller community are entitled to an energy-efficient home of a good standard. The caravan-loan scheme, as it is currently operated, falls well short of this goal.”

They noted that loans provided are “insufficient”, and called for an increase to the amount available. They also reiterated that an audit of all trailers be undertaken, and all defective units replaced. They suggested that pricing for trailers should cover all ancillary costs, including utility connection. The inclusion of modular homes in the scheme was another recommendation, as was providing funding to all local authorities for a rental scheme as well as the loan scheme.