I hope Deputy Joe Higgins has put in his gumshield.

That was a great cue from the Taoiseach. This is my last opportunity to raise a query on Leaders' Questions before the recess.

Mr. Positive.

Deputy Joe Higgins should be allowed to continue without interruption.

I wish to demand an overall account of the Taoiseach's stewardship of Irish society. Does he agree that two key headlines this morning aptly sum up his Government's record? Multimillionaires wallow in a tax break bonanza, but in the second-richest country in Europe, we do not need a report from Sweden but only the testimony of pensioners on trolleys to confirm that in terms of our health service we limp in behind all but one of the poorest ex-Stalinist states. Is there any doubt that in the nine years Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats Party have been in Government, they have pursued a right-wing neo-liberal economic agenda, piling wealth on the greediest sections of society — that minority of super-rich and speculators — while working people are on a treadmill of monstrous house prices, commuter gridlock, expensive child care and a devastating lack of infrastructure.

The Government has wasted the fruits of the boom. This is the key issue. It slashes taxes on the super-rich but social and educational infrastructure in areas of booming population increases is stunningly absent. Children with disabilities, for example, are still denied occupational and speech therapy. The Taoiseach has perhaps one year left in Government. What hope is there now of a resolution in any of these critical areas? What hope is there for a focus on the critical problems in the areas of health and infrastructure, in particular, when the past four weeks have shown that this Government has a sense of direction that lies somewhere between "Wanderly Wagon" and the ancient tribes of Israel wandering in the desert, but with no Moses and no burning bush?

The Taoiseach faces a mutiny on the Fianna Fáil ship. When the normally mild-mannered Deputy Johnny Brady begins to exude a whiff of political sulphur, one knows there is trouble.

I never ended up in Mountjoy.

Whatever about Deputy Johnny Brady, several of his colleagues should have ended up there long ago.

Hear, hear.

Deputies McGuinness and Andrews are beginning to adopt the confident air of a Fletcher Christian.

I ask Deputy Higgins to conclude.

Like the ill-fated Captain Bligh, whose ill temper he certainly displayed last week, the Taoiseach might find himself adrift.

As for his partners in Government, the political dysfunctionals — not our description but that of their friends, the party trustees — the digging match between the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Tánaiste would do justice to two junior GAA teams down the country who have been at each other's throats for years trying to stave off relegation. It is a good job the two casualties were only bruised egos; imagine if the two of them finished up in an accident and emergency unit with only one trolley available. The Taoiseach would need more than one of Deputy Kenny's wet rooms to cope with that situation. Is it any wonder Deputy O'Donnell has a look of post-traumatic stress about her today and that the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, does not know whether to be happy or sad, such is the disarray? The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, meanwhile, has taken to doing police duty in City Hall, policing everywhere but the streets of Dublin and elsewhere.

Reluctant as I am to intervene when Deputy Higgins is in full flight, I ask him to give way to the Taoiseach.

The Taoiseach has one year in which to make changes. Will he indicate three steps he will take in the interests of working-class people to resolve the critical issues to which I referred, particularly in the areas of health and infrastructural deficits?

It is time for the Taoiseach to man the lifeboats.

With regard to our policies, I hope we will continue to take people out of consistent poverty. The Deputy asked what we will do for those who are less well-off and are in need of assistance. Although some 65,000 remain in consistent poverty, our policies have removed 250,000 from that category. This is a major achievement.

The accident and emergency service is the one part of the health service in which an enormous amount of work remains to be done. However, a detailed programme of improvements to both services and infrastructure is in place. The Tánaiste and I will work diligently to ensure there is progress in the 14 or 15 hospitals out of about 35 hospitals, where difficulties remain. We are achieving significant improvements but a major challenge remains.

In regard to an area in which Deputy Joe Higgins is particularly interested, we will continue to provide social and affordable housing for vast numbers of people. We have committed ourselves to accommodate 15,000 in coming years. We have also done much to target disadvantage in the area of education through the employment of several thousand additional teachers. We are building large numbers of schools to particularly target areas of disadvantage.

What about pupil-teacher ratios?

We will continue to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio, particularly in disadvantaged areas where in many schools it is as low as 12:1 or even 10:1. These are significant areas of improvement. The Deputy asked me for three steps; I apologise for giving him five.