Technical Report - Donegal Traveller's Project

Health Survey FindingsIn ROI 42.0% and in NI 46.0% of families reported that they often or very often felt discriminatedagainst. Religion or faith was ranked as very important by 83% in ROI and 78.6% in NI, with highratings of importance given to Traveller culture, identity and community membership also. Nomadismwas ranked fifth in both jurisdictions, rated as very important by 53.9% of ROI families and 39.3%of NI families. The overwhelming majority are Roman Catholics: 98.0% in ROI and 96.7% in NI. Mostrespondents either had a general medical services card, 94.1% in ROI, or were registered with a GP94.9% in NI. Of those in ROI without a card, ineligibility was the main reason (49.6%), whereas in NI, themost frequent reason was having recently moved (47.8%).CommentaryThe AITHS census provides unique information pertaining to the living conditions of the Travellercommunity. Comparable data from the general population is available from the 2006 Irish Census(Central Statistics Office, 2007a). Analyses according to type of accommodation have been included inthe body of the report.81.1% of Travellers in ROI and 87.4% of Travellers in NI, who lived in a house or flat, had 4 or fewer roomsin their home, compared with 25.1% of all private permanent households in the 2006 Census. In total,12.8% of Travellers in ROI and 2.6% of Travellers in NI, who lived in a house or flat, reported owning theirown home, compared with 70.3% (359/510) of Lifeways medical card holders. The majority of Travellerfamilies have basic household amenities such as flush toilets, running water and postal and rubbishservices. Nevertheless, in a 21st-century developed economy, there remain Traveller families withoutsuch amenities, in disproportionately greater proportions than the general population.Access to motor vehicles is similar in the Traveller and general comparable populations, with moreTravellers having access to cars and vans than a population sample of persons at relative socioeconomicdisadvantage, e.g. Lifeways medical card holders (Table 243). In data from the SLAN 2002medical card holders, 64.9% of persons use a car to go shopping.Table 243: Family access to a car or van, in AITHS and LifewaysROI Travellers(n=6,992)NI Travellers(n=1,438)Lifeways medicalcard holders(n=510)Access to a car and/or van 76.7% 82.0% 68.0%Use a car to go shopping 70.2% 69.9% 63.1%Self-report of literacy varies markedly between the Traveller and general population groups (Table 244),with more Travellers expressing difficulty with day-to-day literacy issues. Comprehension of the writteninstructions provided with prescription medicines, providing a measure of practical and functionalliteracy, is poor in the Traveller group. This would constitute a significant health concern.191