Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

With regard to our policies, I hope we will continue to take people out of consistent poverty. The Deputy asked what we will do for those who are less well-off and are in need of assistance. Although some 65,000 remain in consistent poverty, our policies have removed 250,000 from that category. This is a major achievement.

The accident and emergency service is the one part of the health service in which an enormous amount of work remains to be done. However, a detailed programme of improvements to both services and infrastructure is in place. The Tánaiste and I will work diligently to ensure there is progress in the 14 or 15 hospitals out of about 35 hospitals, where difficulties remain. We are achieving significant improvements but a major challenge remains.

In regard to an area in which Deputy Joe Higgins is particularly interested, we will continue to provide social and affordable housing for vast numbers of people. We have committed ourselves to accommodate 15,000 in coming years. We have also done much to target disadvantage in the area of education through the employment of several thousand additional teachers. We are building large numbers of schools to particularly target areas of disadvantage.

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