In a report published today, the Ombudsman for public services has criticised what he called a shameful lack of support for drivers with disabilities. These schemes are a lifeline for people with disabilities, ensuring they can live dignified and independent lives as they travel to work or college and go about their lives. However, as the Taoiseach will be aware, the mobility allowance and motorised transport grant were scrapped in 2013 as part of austerity policies during the financial crash. Since then the Government has failed to put in place alternative supports. For a decade, people who need these schemes have been abandoned. When my colleague, Deputy Doherty, raised this issue in February 2022, the Taoiseach stated that a solution was being worked on. Those were his words. What does that mean? What is the solution? Where is it and what supports will the Government deliver so people with disabilities get the assistance they are entitled to?

I am cognisant of the Ombudsman's report published today. Coming up with a solution that works is not straightforward, but I agree this has been going on far too long. A lot of work has been done by various Ministers, Departments and working groups. However, I accept it has been going on far too long. As a consequence of that, I will be convening a meeting in the next few weeks of all the key Departments that should be involved in this with a view to finding a solution as soon as possible.

In a recent leaflet the Taoiseach distributed in Dublin West crime statistics for the Blanchardstown area were outlined. It appears from that leaflet that crime rates are up in his constituency of Dublin West. It might be surprising for victims of crime and communities that under Fine Gael, the supposed party of law and order, more people are offending and fewer perpetrators are being detected. Clearly a key issue to be addressed is confidence in policing and in An Garda Síochána. We are hearing from members of An Garda Síochána about serious issues around recruitment and retention in the force.

The Government needs to take effective action to address this crisis in policing and to address the socioeconomic context within which so many crimes take place. Will the Taoiseach commit to addressing recruitment and retention issues in An Garda Síochána? Will he also commit to addressing the systemic issues which can contribute to an increase in crime in order to ensure we do not see rising crime statistics and to ensure we see effective action for victims and communities?

I am happy to confirm that I did not distribute that leaflet in my constituency. It was distributed by a member of the council and it shows that crime went down in 2021 and went back up in 2022. That is because we were in a lockdown in 2021 and crime rates fell when most of the country were confined to their homes.

On the Deputy's substantive question, I can make that commitment. We have provided enough funding in the budget for this year to recruit 1,000 new gardaí. It is a stretch target and it remains our target but we are confident that the number of additional gardaí who are sworn in this year and who are new to the force will exceed the number who resign and retire. We will see a net increase in the number of gardaí again this year, and that is not taking into account the hundreds of Garda staff we are taking on, who free up Garda officers for front-line duties.

I want to express my deepest condolences to Christy Dignam's family, friends, band mates and fans. Christy was an icon of Irish music and his huge talent and generous spirit will ensure he leaves a lasting legacy.

It is ten years since the then Fine Gael and Labour Party Government axed the mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant after the schemes were found to be in breach of the Equal Status Act 2000. At the time the Government promised that replacement schemes would quickly be launched but a decade later those replacement schemes are nowhere to be seen. The only remaining transport scheme, the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme, is also effectively closed to applicants. It is so incredibly restrictive that it is almost impossible to qualify for support.

Today the Ombudsman has again heavily criticised the Government for failing to provide adequate and appropriate transport supports to disabled people. He has called the failure "shameful" and said that transport supports for disabled people were better decades ago when the country was broke. When will the Taoiseach fulfil the promise that was made ten years ago and provide transport supports for disabled people in this country?

As the Deputy said in her remarks, these schemes were closed to new entrants back in 2011 and 2012 on foot of Ombudsman reports but the establishment of new schemes is long overdue, which I accept. A working group reported recently and it was made up of people from the Department of Finance, the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Health, the HSE, the Department of Social Protection and the National Transport Authority. The report was only published in February 2023 and it includes proposals which are being considered by Government Departments, including the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and others. I will pull all of the relevant Departments together in the coming weeks and make sure we get some meaningful progress on this soon.