The Taoiseach told the House yesterday that his Government since 1997 was the most left-wing ever in the country. It was interesting that he chose not to mention his partners in Government.

The Taoiseach is very fond of regaling this House with statistics about the money the Government has spent over the past seven years. He is correct that spending by the Government has doubled in those seven years but it is a policy of containment instead of a policy of reform. If one looks at the key delivery areas where this socialist Government has a front-line role it is easy to see a litany of wastage, poor decisions and administrative staff being prioritised over front-line staff.

Does the Taoiseach accept a few simple facts that have been outlined by Deputy Richard Bruton, for instance that €2.2 billion extra is being spent on hospitals yet only 500 extra beds have been added? In 2003, a total of 33,000 fewer people attended accident and emergency units yet they are in chaos around the country. Spending in the criminal justice area is up by €500 million but under the Government one is more likely to be a victim of crime than to have that crime solved. People are more likely not to report crimes in the first instance and one is unlikely to find a garda when one wants one. Failure to properly deliver on road projects has added to overruns of over €4 billion in the past three years yet nobody on that side of the House has even blinked.

The Taoiseach will read from his brief the statistics on the expenditure of containment, which the Government has spent. What does he have to say to the parents of Lewis O'Carolan whose case was in, yesterday's, The Irish Times? He is an autistic boy who has been waiting for months for a hearing on services, which would be available if the Government had been spreading equality to the disadvantaged and marginalised.

What does the Taoiseach have to say to the six young boys I met last Thursday aged from eight to 11, all of whom have been forced to carry drugs across this city, one of whose mother is a prostitute in a council house, three of whose parents have attempted suicide and are alcoholics and the remainder are on drugs? How has his socialist Government dealt with that problem? These are the realities of life and the Taoiseach has failed to grasp them.

The Deputy has moved from health to justice, to the economy and autism. I am not sure if that falls within the category of a question.

The marginalised and disadvantaged.

The reality is that the Government has operated on the basis of creating wealth so that it can be redistributed. We have successfully done that. As I said yesterday in reply to Deputy Rabbitte, the desire to spread wealth in a fairer and more equitable way across society is a core of left of centre political ideology.

The Taoiseach should change the page.

Allow the Taoiseach to speak without interruption, please.

Have some manners.

Opposition Deputies appear to resent that we have 30,000 more people working in the health service.

This is a joke.

Deputy Kenny said we had invested an extra €2 billion in the health service, which they also appear to resent. In fact, we have moved from a position of €4 billion to almost €11 billion. It took from the foundation of the State in 1921 for 68,000 people to be employed in the health service, but in the seven years under my watch we have moved from 68,000 to 106,000.

That makes it even worse.

Those people are providing health services day-in, day-out to people. They are looking after the 1.2 million people availing of outpatient services and the hundreds of thousands of people availing of inpatient services. They are looking after, as best they can, all of the people in need of cardiac services, cancer treatment, maternity care and in all the other areas and they are doing so to the very best of their ability.

I will not give a litany of figures because Deputy Kenny cannot take them in, but the reality is that this year we are spending €500 million——

The Taoiseach obviously cannot take them in. Although there are 30,000 extra people, there is nothing to show for it. The Taoiseach should be ashamed of himself.

Allow the Taoiseach to speak without interruption, please.

——more on the capital programme in health. We are investing more in health all over the country.

Deputy Kenny raised the matter of Garda numbers. We recently announced an increase in Garda numbers which will appear in the Book of Estimates tomorrow.

Allow the Taoiseach to speak without interruption.

Why can I not have the same silence as the other Deputies? Why is that?

Hear, hear.

They are fascists.

Is it because they have five minutes on television on Wednesday morning and they feel they have to shout me down? They were not even here yesterday.

The Taoiseach is never here.

And they will not be here tomorrow. They are never here.

The truth is bitter.

The Opposition never wants to listen to me when I am here. Opposition Deputies never want to listen to facts.

They are only here for the television.

Only half the Cabinet is here.

We were here yesterday.

Allow the Taoiseach to speak, please. Deputy Kenny was allowed submit his question without any interruption whatsoever. The Taoiseach is entitled to exactly the same courtesy and Deputy Kenny is entitled to hear the Taoiseach's response.

The Taoiseach made disparaging remarks, a Cheann Comhairle.

The Chair will have to take the appropriate action if Members want to interrupt.

I have listened to a considerable amount of disparaging remarks already this morning so I am sure I am entitled to reply. It is the Parliament.

We now have a historically high number of gardaí in the State. I thought Deputy Kenny would have wished to raise the case of the garda who had just completed the excellent training course and who last week single-handedly confronted a serious criminal in this city who has many allegations against him and who was subsequently arrested. He might also have raised the issue of the gardaí who were shot last week apprehending robbers in a filling station and who do this job every day. I am very proud of the gardaí.

Tell us something about the criminals.

That has nothing to do with the Taoiseach's performance.

I also read the article last Saturday about the life of Lewis O'Carolan and the effect of his autistic spectrum disorder on him and his family. The young man attended St. Paul's special school in Beaumont, where I worked on the accounts many years ago. He attended there from November 1996 until February 2003, when he was, withdrawn by his parents. While in St. Paul's, he was placed in a class of six children with one teacher and two special needs assistants as per the guidelines with other children. He also had a special needs assistant assigned solely for his needs on a one-to-one basis. To state that a good effort was not made by the State in this case is wrong. I acknowledge my time has concluded but I will come back if Deputies make any sane points.