A quarter of the eastern region's Environmental Health Officers cannot prosecute local authorities over breaches of legislation in council-run Travellers' halting sites, according to a report from the Traveller Health Unit.
It has called on legislators to establish a national authority to address what it calls unacceptable conditions on Travellers' sites including water hygiene and pest infestation.
The report from country's largest health authority says existing legislation does not cover all issues impacting on the health of many Travellers living on so-called temporary sites for over ten years.
It lists what it calls unacceptable conditions on council-run sites in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow, including illegal dumping, poor access by emergency services, water hygiene and pest infestation.
But the report says that when a quarter of the regions' environmental health officers try to use their limited powers, they cannot prosecute councils for breaches of legislation.
It traces the problem to a practice, dating from 1970, where 42 of the region's 160 Environmental Health Officers report to council managers even though they are employed by health boards.
