Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

I dealt last week with the impossible housing situation for tens of thousands of young working people. That situation remains the same. The Government has failed disastrously on the critical issue of infrastructure for burgeoning communities. Deputy Cowley and I, representing Independent Deputies, were in Laytown in east Meath this morning where 89 children do not have school places for September. Of the 150 children in west Dublin with no school place for September as of last month, some have now been accommodated and places are being sought for the remainder.

The Taoiseach has allowed developers to erect thousands of houses and apartments but he has not made available and insisted on the necessary accompanying infrastructure, whether social, educational or in terms of transport. This is one of the major downfalls of this Government and one of the major issues on which it will be judged by ordinary working people in the next 12 months. The lives of working people, particularly in the commuter belts, cities and bigger towns, have increasingly become a treadmill in an attempt to survive.

As I related last week, that is a legacy of Fianna Fáil Governments and Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Governments, allowing developers to zoom ahead, with super profits and speculation but not requiring the development of critical infrastructure. It is quite incredible that in a community like Tyrrelstown, with 2,000 homes, or Ongar, also with 2,000 homes, there is not even a community centre where the people can meet. There are also problems regarding education and transport.

These are the crucial issues and if the Government has 12 months left in its term, how will it resolve them?

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