Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Taoiseach on his appointment. We now have a new Government but we have a new Government of two old conservative parties and one regional group. The two Civil War parties are united now like never before. The problem is that nothing separates them, except one letter; they are FF and FG. The Government's first action was to create more jobs for the boys - the girls seem to have been forgotten - and to suspend the Dáil yet again until 5 February.

We now have a programme for Government which, on the big issues facing workers and families, fails. For example, on housing where is the rent freeze that hundreds of thousands of people across the State need so badly? There are not even effective rent controls. We are going to have a rent register instead. Where is the massively expanded affordable housing scheme for those middle-income families that desperately need it? Where is the commitment to drive on with cost-rental schemes to provide homes for those low-paid workers who are just above the income limit for social housing? It is very important that this is addressed.

Last year, the then Minister for housing, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, promised that up to 40,000 - the figure was at least in the high 30,000s - new homes would be finished. What happened? We had 30,000 new homes finished, which was 3,000 fewer than in 2022.

In health there is no evidence of a commitment or determination to get a national health system in place, as envisaged under Sláintecare, which was put in place back in 2016 or 2017. There are no timelines to put that system in place. Instead, we are a muddling along with the inefficient two-tier system we have. There is no sign of the system that has been in place in most European countries for the past 60, 70 or 80 years. Hundreds of thousands of people will continue to languish on hospital waiting lists and waiting for appointments.

Schoolchildren who should have a dental check-up in third or fourth class in primary school are instead having one in fourth, fifth or sixth year in secondary school. This is happening in County Laois. It is an absolute scandal. The dental treatment services scheme will continue to be non-existent in many counties, including Laois, because private dentists will not operate the scheme. The Taoiseach must get it into his head that public dentists have to be hired within the HSE system. That is the only way the service can be provided. Unfortunately, the private system is not working.

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