James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

Let us discuss the schools we have before talking about those we do not have. Some 75% of primary schools have no indoor sports facilities and common rooms have been used as classrooms for the increasing enrolments. I am speaking specifically about Dublin North, including areas such as Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush, Lusk and Donabate. The latter two areas have no secondary school even though both have experienced major growth. The planners in Fingal set up a committee with the Department of Education and Science whose representative sat on the committee. Yet the Department turns around with its hands up and asks how such a situation could have been predicted. The question posed by residents of Dublin North is how the Department could have failed to predict this outcome.

There are not enough speech and language therapists for children with such problems. It takes months to see a therapist and parents realise that with each passing day the chance of a successful outcome for their children diminishes. Therefore they pay for private therapy even though they can ill afford to do so. Many parents cannot afford such treatment. We do not have enough school psychologists and we will be debating that matter again tonight. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is on record as having paid parents nearly €4 million to obtain psychological consultations for their children due to the lack of an adequate psychological assessment service in our schools. This is despite the previous promises made about this matter.

I heard Deputy Jan O'Sullivan refer to youth cafés, but how many do we have? There are virtually none. The only one I know of in Dublin North has been proposed for Rush, which is as a result of the progressive far-sightedness of the county manager, Mr. David O'Connor. Such facilities are important for the many teenagers who are not involved in sport. Even if they were interested in sport, however, the facilities are not there for them to use. Look at the society we have created over the past 20 years. The Minister of State must accept that his party has been in government for 18 years of that time. Children are now dropped to and picked up from school. They are kept at home because it is not safe to be outside. If somebody's child is missing for an hour there are panic stations, whereas when we were growing up one could be gone all morning until lunchtime and people did not worry. That situation does not pertain any more. This is a societal issue that transcends policing, the construction of new residential areas and traffic volumes.

Many youths feel detached from society because they do not have a vote and what they say does not seem to count. They look with suspicion at gardaí in squad cars. More community gardaí are needed because the numbers are insufficient. We need the gardaí we had ten or 15 years ago to whom people would look for help. When people had a problem they would go to a garda who was seen as a helpful person to solve problems, rather than the heavy hand of authority. We need authority as well, of course, and there must be accountability, but while young people learn that at home, they also need to learn it on the street.

Where are the required sports facilities? They do not exist in primary or secondary schools. Because of the nature of society and the lack of investment in facilities like gyms, we now have an American scenario with soft drinks companies promoting vending machines and giving part of the proceeds as a grant to schools for sports equipment. On the one hand they are promoting sporting activity, while on the other they are promoting obesity through the sale of high sugar food and drink. Instead of having this nonsensical discussion, why can the Government not make a concrete proposal to install vending machines with fruit and other healthy eating options? Vendors of such products could be allowed tax breaks given that fresh food has a shorter shelf life than many high sugar products such as chocolate and soft drinks.

The Government has failed miserably to provide medical cards for young people. The current threshold for a medical card is €184 per week for a single individual, which is marginally over half the minimum wage. Even more intriguing is that a married couple receives an extra €38 allowance for the first two children and €41 per child thereafter. Can anyone in this House explain why a child's health is valued at one fifth or one sixth of an adult's? Children, particularly those under five, have tremendous health needs, yet the allowance for a child is only one fifth that of an adult. If the Government wants to do something meaningful in the next budget it must not only increase the income threshold for a medical card, which is scandalously low, but also focus on the young by increasing children's allowances to realistic levels. The last attempt through the doctor visit-only card increased it by only 25%. What is 25% of 25? It is a joke.

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government needs to introduce new guidelines for housing development. While they are on the way and they will refer to crèches and facilities as part of residential developments, will provision be made for gymnasiums and safe exercise areas so that the new developments are built in a manner more conducive to safe walking? Gymnasiums are needed because many women do not feel safe walking on their own after dark.

Drug and alcohol abuse and sexual behaviour are also major issues, which need to be addressed through our education system. A great case can be made for providing specific classes to educate young people about drugs, alcohol and sexual behaviour. As Deputy O'Sullivan said, lack of enforcement is the most significant problem regarding alcohol. Everybody knows it is illegal to sell alcohol to people aged under 18 but the law is not enforced. Sometimes, for example, 19 year old people are sent into the shop to buy 24 cans of cider. Alcohol purchases must be properly monitored and community gardaí should be on the beat because prevention is better than cure.

Drugs are rife in our society. I met a young man who started taking drugs when he was 11. Drugs are too prevalent and, for example, it has been reported that they have been detected on cisterns in Leinster House. Why are sniffer dogs not used more widely? Why do gardaí not visit pubs and clubs at night with such dogs to detect drugs? That would prevent drug dealers from treating them as safe havens.

I agree with Deputy O'Sullivan regarding psychiatric services for young people. It is absolutely outrageous that only 12 beds are available in the entire State. Many children with intellectual disabilities and psychiatric disorders are cared for as inpatients in adult institutions. It is not acceptable in a modern society.

I refer to education, diagnosis and autism, which was ignored by the Government and the Department of Education and Science until they were dragged kicking and screaming through the courts where awards of more than €200,000 were made against them. Why can the Department not support autism schools? I fully agree with the Minister for Education and Science that ABA is not the only way to go but it is one way to go and she will not even support the one way we know works. The outlook for children with autism who are subject to early intervention can be greatly altered from a life in an institution to a near normal existence. Children with cystic fibrosis have also been let down badly. No isolation rooms are available for them in hospitals and, as a consequence, their life expectancy is ten years lower than sufferers in the UK. Is that acceptable?

The Government has brought us into the House to discuss pious platitudes in the motion. The Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy Haughey, made no concrete proposals to address our problems. He gave the Government a clap on the back and said everything was wonderful. This is the Government's modus operandi. According to it, there is no crisis in the health service and everything is grand in the education system, yet 13 schools are needed in Dublin North. Parents are faced with emergencies and last minute arrangements have to be put in place for schools, even though officials have known for years that this was coming down the line. They were told people moving into the area had existing families and the projections for the school population should not be based solely on the birth rate.

The motion should be amended and the Government should come back to the House with concrete proposals, otherwise all we are doing is filling the Chamber with hot air.

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