§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he will take to ensure that legal protection of Travellers is enhanced by the EU Race Directive. [165821]
§ Mr. SpellarIrish Travellers are already covered by the Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1997. The amendments to this Order to give effect to the provisions of the EU Race Directive apply to Irish Travellers and came into effect on 19 July 2003 to meet the deadline for implementation.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in(a) giving legal effect to and (b) promoting a Code of Practice to Promote Racial Equality in Housing and Accommodation under Article 45 of the Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1997; and I what measures he proposes to promote good relations between travellers and settled communities. [165822]
§ Mr. SpellarThe Equality Commission for Northern Ireland consulted on a Code of Practice on Housing in September 2001. The Government will begin the process826W of giving legal effect to the Code when it is submitted to it as required by the Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1997.
Irish Travellers will be covered by a Race Equality Strategy for Northern Ireland, to be published later this year.
A Promoting Social Inclusion Working group was set up to recommend ways of alleviating the disadvantage faced by Travellers and the Government published its response to the recommendations of this working group on 25 February 2003. A Travellers Sub-Group is being set up within the NI Race Forum to oversee the implementation of the Government's response and have input, through the forum, into the implementation of the Race Equality Strategy.