Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is striking that as we reach the second anniversary of the Taoiseach taking office, the principal message from Fine Gael is relentless negativity. With yesterday's economic statements, most people would have expected a message about Government proposals but instead Fine Gael's initiative was to publish yet another attack video on Fianna Fáil and the Green Party.

The programme for Government states clearly that the Government will tackle homelessness and bring the crisis to an end. I heard what the Taoiseach had to say in an earlier reply. On the day that promise was made, there were 1,881 homeless children but today the figure is over double that, at 3,794. It is a damning indictment of the Government's inability to deal with the issue of homeless children. We have seen recent reports detailing the psychological impact on children, the consequences of an absence of security and the effects on their education development etc. Does the Taoiseach consider that this promise is being delivered? He has much economic and policy advice available to him. Has he asked his advisers when the number of homeless children will return to the level existing when the Government took office? At that stage the Government argued the level was unacceptable and would be reduced.

We keep coming back to people just asking very basic questions. The Government has accepted the outcome of the job evaluation scheme and the Taoiseach and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform have said they agree with the recommendations and are willing to pay. The issue seems to be about implementation. There is a an absence of transparency and a breakdown of trust between the Government and those representing workers, who are on the low pay spectrum of health service workers. The broader issue is very poor morale across the board within the health service, which the Taoiseach must acknowledge. He has not come to grips with it.

There has been a terrible failure by the Government in providing access to therapies. Deputy John Curran yesterday got a letter from the HSE about a young child who needs continuing access to occupational therapy and physiotherapy when the child moves to another school. Deputy Curran was told the child would have to wait for two years for access to essential therapies. The one defining quality in the area is inertia from the Government when it comes to access to therapies for children with special needs.

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