The man was instructed by the HSE to pick up his supplementary welfare allowance at a central payment unit in Dublin city centre rather than at his local health centre, as applies to non-travellers.

He was last week awarded 6,350 by the Equality Tribunal for the effects of discrimination. And in a major embarrassment for the HSE, it was ordered to "immediately" arrange for all travellers to be paid their allowance at local centres.

Edward Reilly told the tribunal that, after he lost his job in 2003, he applied to his local health centre for the supplementary welfare allowance (SWA). But when it was discovered that he lived in a bungalow in front of a halting site, a community welfare officer told him he would have to go the central unit in Dublin city centre as it was healthboard policy that all SWA payments to travellers be handled centrally.

The health board's main reason for this was the difficulty in keeping track of payments to people on the move.

Reilly argued t this was discriminatory treatment against travellers as a similar condition was not applied to non-travellers.

Backing Reilly's claim, equality officer Dolores Kavanagh noted that the 1984 decision to centralise SWA payments to travellers was based on "anecdotal evidence of fraud exchanged between community welfare officers".

But no in-depth research or analysis was conducted into the alleged fraud, she said, and the centralisation of the service was never discussed with the Traveller representative bodies.

Kavanagh added that the computerisation of all SWA payments some years ago meant there was no longer any reason to require travellers to deal with the central unit in Dublin. A HSE spokesman told the Sunday Tribune it had "for some time been formulating plans to devolve SWA services for Travellers to local offices".

The spokesman said any issues arising from this plan would be discussed with localTtraveller representatives and Traveller support groups.