Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support the Order of Business as outlined by the Deputy Leader. I join with Lucy Kennedy and Auntie Bessie in wishing all aunties around the country a very happy aunties' day. I have the privilege of being auntie to 17 nieces and nephews. Aunties play a very important role in our lives, and thanks to Auntie Bessie for heralding that.

I want to raise a number of issues. On Garda numbers in Kildare, and particularly in South Kildare, we have consistently had the lowest number of gardaí in the country and it is telling in terms of the number of crimes and burglaries and the antisocial behaviour that we very sadly have on our streets. To do a very quick comparison on the numbers, Tullamore, a town with 24,951 people, has three inspectors, nine sergeants and 73 gardaí. Portlaoise, with a population of 31,794, has six inspectors, 24 sergeants and 128 gardaí. Newbridge, with a population of 30,645, has one inspector, two sergeants and 44 gardaí, of which 13 are on a national team, so we have only 30 gardaí on the beat. You can imagine, in terms of trying to give 24-hour cover, how that impacts on the patrolling and on stopping criminal and bad behaviour. It is wrong. Athy is short nine gardaí. We have always had the lowest number and it is time we got our fair share of gardaí.

The Deputy Leader facilitated a meeting last night on the National Women's Council and issues that impact on women around the country, and I thank her for that. The National Women's Council spoke about the latest report on vulnerable women, and particularly migrant women, and a point was very well made by Councillor Deirdre Cullen from Kilkenny, on the role of the home school liaison. I am an incredible believer in the home school liaison programme which is fantastic. However, for many vulnerable women, and indeed for migrant women, their only point of contact may be the home school liaison teacher, and that is in only schools that have delivering equality of opportunity in schools, DEIS, status.Every single school in the country should have a home school liaison teacher. It is important to make that call here.

The final point I will make relates to the substitute crisis in schools, which affects Kildare as much as anywhere else. It is making everybody's job in school difficult. The inspectors need to go back into the classroom to teach. There are 200 inspectors. They are experienced teachers, and they can bring a lot to schools, classrooms and staff rooms. They need to be redeployed back into the classroom.