It is even longer than six months.

This particular case is just unacceptable, and heads need to be smacked together. We raised the issue in February and I think it was March when we had the meeting. It took a number of months to get them to change an archaic policy which was unique in respect of the fact that this child was being denied services essentially because of a word on a page. In between times, nothing was being done in terms of even preparing for that. Then the policy was changed. The response I read to the Minister of State is from Septem…

It is Castleblayney.

Housing for all the vultures.

Since the Dáil last met, South Africa has shone a light on the humanitarian catastrophe that has been unleashed in Gaza by bringing a case against Israel under the Genocide Convention to the International Court of Justice, ICJ. In bringing that case, South Africa and the South African Government have done humanity a great service. The case against Israel as presented by the South African legal team was compelling. The ICJ has heard in stark, indisputable terms that Israel is in gross violation of international law.…

Well said.

In the first exchange of this Dáil session, a Minister told us the Government's housing policies were working. She said so never minding that rent costs are out of control or that house prices have hit record levels and are beyond the reach of the vast majority of workers and families, and never minding that Government is missing every one of its social and affordable housing targets, targets that were too low to begin with. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, went further than just repeating the absurdity that the Gov…

After 65 days of brutal Israeli assaults on Gaza, more than 18,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 6,000 children. It must stop. The world must force Israel to stop. I welcome that the Irish Government has joined Spain, Belgium and Malta in urging the European Union to call for a ceasefire. The failure of the EU to adopt that position already has undermined Europe's credibility as a voice for peace, international law and conflict resolution. I hope EU leaders will finally act. However, if they do…

It is important that this House talks about migration because there is a conversation taking place in every community, possibly around every dinner table, and we know that some of that conversation has been influenced by distortion and exaggeration and, in some instances, downright lies that have been disseminated by what can only be described as nasty actors, particularly online. We must acknowledge, though, that there are genuine concerns within our communities. I know that some fear that any public acknowledgeme…

I want to touch briefly on the fact that in advance of the full European Council, the Agriculture and Fisheries Council will discuss the first year implementation of the CAP strategic plans based on reports from the Commission and the Presidency. I imagine the Minister for agriculture is grateful that it will be based on information to be received from his Department. If it were based on information coming from Irish farmers, stakeholders or the agriculture media, the picture painted would be quite different and wo…

We have learned one thing very clearly today. It is that this Government does not like being held to account, most of all, by Sinn Féin.

What we have seen are snobbery and condescension, which are the hallmarks of a century-old cosy cartel that does not like to be challenged on its failures, especially by those it looks down on, that is, those who broke its golden circle which tolerated and, in fact, often rewarded incompetence. However, the Government has failed and it will be challenged on its failures. Confronted by its own policing failures, the Government is angry, defensive and has resorted to mud-slinging. Rather than dealing with the issues …

-----and from what we have heard this evening, they will not get it. This Government and this Minister are completely out of touch with how crime and antisocial behaviour have affected communities. We know the impact of these failures. We have heard of the incidences of crime on our streets; the random attacks; the workers afraid of leaving late in the evening; the no-go areas in our cities late at night; the people afraid in their own homes; the domestic violence calls unanswered; the response times that have been…

When that does not happen, somebody must be held to account. When riots erupted, the Minister allowed gardaí to be sent out unprepared and under-resourced. We all saw the footage of gardaí isolated trying to fend off attackers.

They deserve better than that. That is a political failure and that failure is on the Minister. In the immediate aftermath of those failures-----

-----the Minister tried to tell us that control was not lost in the city, just as for months before that, she had told us that Dublin city centre was safe. No amount of mud-slinging by the Government will take away from the facts of its failure. There are fewer gardaí on our streets and fewer Garda stations in our communities than there were when Fine Gael came to power 12 year ago.

Coupled with that, the Government has fundamentally changed how our communities are policed. When I was growing up, everyone knew the local gardaí and the local gardaí knew everyone.

People felt safer.

That is no longer the case. The population has increased and our towns have grown. In response, Fine Gael has closed Garda stations and reduced Garda numbers. Its members do not like to hear it but those are the facts. It cannot continue. We called on the Minister to resign; she did not do so. We cannot continue with a Minister for Justice who has allowed our communities to feel increasingly unsafe while she insists our cities are safe and the daily experience of everyone who lives in, works in, visits or runs a bu…

-----and he did not do so.