Peadar Tóibín

I agree with Deputy O'Flynn. I talk to people who say they are a timing belt issue away from not being able to pay their bills. They tell me that if something goes wrong in their lives, they will be on the edge. People are lying awake at night wondering what bills they will be able to pay. That is an incredible situation. The frustration I have is that the Government is acting like the cost-of-li…

Daniel Aruebose's remains were found in Donabate yesterday. He had been in State care but he was returned to his family and it appears that there were no follow-up checks. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see such a young boy lose his life. Since 2014, 239 children in State care or known to State care have died. Ten of those were murdered and 51 died as a result of drug overdoses or suicide. Toda…

I raise the case of Daniel Aruebose as well and the fact that his remains have been found in north Dublin. It is incredible that a three-year-old boy would go missing from State care. I want to express my deepest sympathies to the relatives of this small boy. Daniel has been failed by the State. It is horrific and damning that we have a situation where the State was searching for the remains of tw…

The fact there is not a proper investigation with statutory powers to investigate those is absolutely wrong as well. What funding will the Taoiseach provide Tusla to make sure it can do the work to investigate those closed cases?

Will the Taoiseach provide statutory powers to investigate these shocking deaths?

We should know whether it has been researched or investigated.

I accept that he was not tracked by State care.

I accept that his case was closed-----

There needs to be a structure to investigate these cases. The ombudsman says there is not.

The ombudsman said there is not a statutory organisation to get the facts. That is a damning statement.

Is there any responsibility?

No.

The Taoiseach is not being correct.

At the moment, this is no country for young children and for many people who have disabilities. This day last year I raised with the then Taoiseach, Deputy Simon Harris, the case of Harvey Morrison Sherratt. I raised the facts that he had been taken off a waiting list unbeknownst to his family, had been left in excruciating pain for his condition to develop and never had the necessary operations h…

If we are to make sure children get the assessments of need that are necessary and if therapists are going to be recruited, then they need to know it is happening.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an rún seo agus roimh an iarracht rochtain a fháil ar oideachas le haghaidh gach uile pháiste sa tír. Is é an t-oideachas ceann de na cearta is tábhachtaí sa tír seo. One of the key objectives of the Proclamation of the Republic is to cherish all the children of the nation equally. An education is one of the most important rights that exist in society. Education facilitates the…

The Government cannot agree either.

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 …

According to a reply I received today to a parliamentary question-----

-----707 prisoners were unlawfully away from prison last year and there were still 131 missing from the prison system at the end of the year.

Is it not the case that, in the last seven months, the Government has been floundering?

No, it is not just increased reporting.

The increase in domestic violence statistics are not down to increased reporting.

They are down to increased domestic violence. To hide that fact is actually dangerous as well.

Let us talk about the health service, which the Tánaiste mentioned. Billions of euros have been poured into the HSE and we are getting less and less in return. The national children's hospital, which the Tánaiste signed for, is still mired in cost overruns and delays. There have been 500,000 adverse incidents in hospitals just in the last five years and 3,142 people died as a result of those adver…