SEANAD REPORT: The Minister of State for the Environment, Mr Dan Wallace, rejected the contention of Mr Joe Costello (Lab) in the Seanad that provisions to criminalise the behaviour of Travellers trespassing on public or private lands was an election gimmick.

"Fianna Fáil are now saying we have become tough on Travellers, we are looking for votes," Mr Costello said.

The Housing Bill, which confers new powers to deal with unauthorised occupation of lands, was passed without a vote.

Local authorities had made hopeless efforts to provide badly needed Traveller accommodation, and the Minister for the Environment had not insisted on better efforts being made, Mr Costello said. The Minister had come in with a sledgehammer by treating all Traveller families in a criminal manner, even those occupying sites which could be regarded as innocuous.

Criticising the power to arrest without warrant a person committing an offence under the new provision, Mr Costello the legislation would lead to regular conflict between the Travelling community and gardaí. He appealed to the Minister to withdraw the legislation.

Mr Wallace said the measures were necessary to deal with the type of large-scale unauthorised encampments which had been emerging in the past year or two.