Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)

On the last day of the Dáil, many around the country will look to mark the Government's report card, so let us have a look at it. The attendance record has been atrocious so far. It is 230 days since the general election and the Government has turned up to the Dáil for 59 of those. That is 75% of the time that has elapsed since the election in which the Government has not come to the Dáil. It has been a stay-at-home Government seeking to dodge the accountability of the national Parliament.

The Government promised it would make this country the best country in Europe to be a child, but it has presided over the implantation of unauthorised springs into children. It presided over a situation where children who did not need scoliosis and hip surgery received it, yet 245 children are still on the waiting list for scoliosis operations. The Government presided over a CHI that operated under a toxic culture and misused State funds. There are 37 children missing from Tusla. Since 2021, Tusla has made referrals to the Garda in respect of 161 children under its care who are suspected of being victims of child sexual exploitation or child trafficking. Since 2014, 235 children in State care or known to State care have died. Of them, ten were murdered and 51 died as a result or suicide or drug overdoses. When the Tánaiste first entered this Chamber, there were 457 children homeless in the State. Today, there are 5,000 children homeless in the State. The Government misled the State about 40,000 houses being built last year when 10,000 of those homes never materialised. The Government promised 41,000 homes would be built this year. It is now going to be closer to 32,000. The ESRI has stated the Government will not make next year's targets either. The Government has made record-breaking house prices, record-breaking rents and record-breaking numbers of people who are homeless at the moment. I asked the Minister for housing about how long it took to get a planning application through An Coimisiún Pleanála. He said he did not know. In many cases, it is taking more than 16 months and some applications are there for two or three years. Uisce Éireann has said it will not get around to filling all the gaps in water infrastructure that are blocking homes being built until 2050 at the moment, and there is no plan for the Apple tax to be invested so far in relation to this. The Government's solution to the housing crisis has been to make apartments smaller and darker. Its solution to rents has been to create a situation where rents will be forced up and its bright idea of a housing tsar has been shelved because of embarrassment.

There is one thing that is more affordable and more available at the moment, and that is cocaine. Criminals are doing a better job in creating a functional market for an illegal drug than the Government is in terms of housing. Rape and sexual assault are increasing in this country. The incidence of domestic violence is four times higher now than it was when the Tánaiste first entered this Chamber. The number of gardaí per capita and the force's morale are on the floor. Fifty-three 53 Garda stations do not have an assigned garda at the moment. Last year, 1,000 prisoners were released from prison after 24 hours because of the overcrowding in prisons at the moment.

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