Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I join others in congratulating Deputy Harris on his elevation to the role of Taoiseach. It was refreshing earlier to hear the voices of children in the Dáil Chamber, and I want to make a case for the appointment of Saoirse and Cillian as junior Ministers tomorrow. His family are understandably proud today, and we should all be reminded that abuse in politics travels to those who have never sought public office.

We are not here for ourselves, however, but for our communities and the people of Ireland. In that regard, we have to be mindful of the serious work of politics that we need to undertake together. The Government needs to accept and realise the Opposition is not the enemy, just as we realise we can genuinely achieve things and co-operate. The Taoiseach has in the past shown flashes of being willing to work collaboratively, and I want to raise with him primarily the issues of justice and education. I ask him in all earnestness to dispense with the tired law-and-order rhetoric and to assess honestly the issues that are affecting the Department of Justice today.

The Taoiseach says the answer to prison overcrowding is more prison spaces. It is not. It is fewer prisoners. How can it make sense that the progression unit in Mountjoy Prison is now threatened with closure? Can we get beyond the "get tough" nonsense and understand the link between poverty and imprisonment? Can we agree that four-month sentences are pointless and that incarcerating people with addiction issues, mental health issues, or both, is counterproductive. We can work together on that.

On drugs, who will the new Minister for drugs be? Will the Government use the Oireachtas committee on the findings of the citizens' assembly to chart a new course on drugs policy in Ireland? Will the Taoiseach ensure the injecting facility in Dublin is opened this year? Will he decriminalise the drug user so they are empowered through medical intervention and counselling, and not humiliated through the criminal justice system? Will he commit to legislating on this before an election? We can work together on that.

On the proposed Dublin task force, will the Taoiseach prioritise the introduction of a Dublin allowance to ensure that the capital city can recruit and retain school staff and gardaí, who are priced out of accommodation in Dublin? We had an unprecedented number of gardaí - 164 - resigning from the force last year. The trend is continuing this year. Some schools in Dublin are operating on 45% staff capacity. He must introduce a Dublin allowance akin to the London model. We can work together on that.

On hate crime, the Taoiseach must face down the yesterday men on his backbenches. This is not a culture war over gender identity, as some would distort this debate to be. This is about a Croatian man, Josip Štrok, who was beaten to death in an anti-immigrant attack last month. This is about members of the LGBTQ+ community, who are afraid they will be beaten up, or worse. This is about the 23 accommodation centres that have been destroyed by arson attacks in the past number of years. He should ask his former Ministers to tell those terrified families that this is some woke agenda. The Taoiseach must stand by his convictions. We can work together on that, even if others in the Opposition cower away.

The Taoiseach must establish the citizens' assembly on education, as promised, to drive the debate on special education, disadvantaged education, the separation of church and State in education and the ending of the leaving certificate and to promote the ethos of inclusivity across our education system. He must deliver on the programme for Government commitment, and then deliver on the assembly's findings. He must also separately deliver on the DEIS plus proposal that would benefit 100 of our most acutely disadvantaged schools. We can work together on that.

The Taoiseach has a choice. He can continue with the empty rhetoric on core Fine Gael values of law and order, low tax and employer rights over workers' rights, etc., and pretend his Government are the only ones in these Houses who are actually serious on policy delivery, or he can accept that many of us thirst for change, and for us, the difference we can make in so many lives is why we come here every day. His time is short, but the opportunity is real. He is here for the people who will either benefit, or be wounded by the choices he makes. There are those of us who are willing to work together. This is as much a challenge to the Taoiseach as an invitation. Tá sé in am duit stop a chur leis an gcaint agus tús a chur leis an obair, agus táimid sásta comhoibriú leat le polasaithe daonna a chur chun cinn.

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