Irish society has mixed attitudes toward Travelers. Some associate the group with criminal activity and antisocial behavior. Their origins in Ireland date back at least 1,000 years, according to DNA evidence. While many retain a nomadic lifestyle, others — known as “settled Travelers” — have chosen to stay put.

According to the 2011 census, only 1 percent of Irish Travelers complete higher education. A little over 84 percent were unemployed, a rate six times higher than for the general population. Life expectancy for Traveler men is 15.1 years lower than for other men; Traveler women live 11.5 years less than other women. In addition, the suicide rate for men in the group is 6.6 times higher than for non-Traveler men.

The report by Mr. Muiznieks, a Latvian-American human rights activist and political scientist, touched on a range of subjects, highlighting the status of Irish women and children. He urged the Irish authorities to tackle “persistent gender inequalities,” gender stereotypes and women’s continuing disadvantages in employment, education and other fields. His report also called for better protections for women from domestic violence.

Ireland currently has a near total ban on abortion that has been in the Constitution since 1983. Mr. Muiznieks said that “decriminalizing abortion within reasonable gestational limits is essential to women’s equality.”

He also noted that drastic budget cuts affecting child care had not been restored since the Irish economy recovered. Child poverty rates have increased since the 2008 downturn. According to the 2011 census, 9.3 percent of children were living in consistent poverty, with 22 percent reporting that they had gone to bed or to school hungry.

Emily Logan, the chief commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, said the report was a “welcome intervention.”

Bernard Joyce, director of the Irish Traveler Movement, an advocacy organization in Dublin, said in a statement that although “ethnicity recognition was a welcome and progressive step,” it “doesn’t address all of the challenges faced by the community.” He called for “economic and budgetary redress.”

The government said that it would give Mr. Muiznieks’s recommendations “careful attention,” and that they would serve as an important tool in its work to “ensure the human rights of all citizens of and residents in Ireland.”