It would be remiss of me not to mention the Maurice McCabe controversy. I welcome the cross-party consensus in regard to the establishment of a public tribunal of inquiry but I also look forward to hearing the Ministers' clarifications in respect of certain questions in the Lower House. I look forward to listening to them answer those questions later today.

I wish to raise two items on the Order of Business. The Minister supplied Members with a list of schools across the country with DEIS status. The Leader of the House will know that this is a bugbear of mine. This will be the sixth time I have raised the issue of the Assumption girls' national school, Walkinstown, in the House. There is a boys' national school, a girls' national school and a girls' secondary schools in the area. These schools are on an island in a sea of DEIS schools that do not have DEIS status.

The Assumption girls' school in Walkinstown is in an area of very high disadvantage. We hear of difficulties in the inner city with drug and crime gangs in the Crumlin area. The children attending this school come specifically from the area of Drimnagh and Crumlin. What is most shocking is that when the boys and girls attending the Assumption junior school proceed to secondary school, the boys go on to Drimnagh Castle secondary school which has been given DEIS status and the girls go on to the Assumption secondary school in Walkinstown, which has not been given DEIS status. This is an anomaly, which discriminates between boys and girls. The boys in Drimnagh Castle are getting a better education than the girls attending the Assumption secondary school. This issue must be examined.

It is outrageous that this school, whose case I have raised six times, has not been given DEIS status in the recent allocation. Will the Leader ask the Minister for Education and Skills how on earth his Department is coming up with the criteria to allocate DEIS status? It says it has access to PPS numbers and knows whether parents are in receipt of social welfare allowances and that schools are asked to submit second, fourth and sixth class results. The Department is saying that if a school is doing well, and the teachers are busting their asses to get good results for their kids - excuse me; my apologies.

What kind of language is that in the Seanad?

The Senator, without interruption.

Where are we now? Are we at a bus stop or are we in the Seanad?

Well spoken.

Schools are being penalised for getting good results for their kids and teachers are being penalised for working too hard. That is outrageous.

The second matter I would like to raise relates to the Harold's Cross Greyhound Stadium, which was unexpectedly closed. I was meant to go to the stadium this evening but I learned that it has been closed. This is part of the Irish Greyhound Board's decision to shift races from Harold's Cross to Shelbourne Park in a move designed to cover the cost of developing the new track in Limerick, which cost €21 million to complete. The Harold's Cross Greyhound Stadium is an historic venue in Dublin and opened in 1928. It is a very important part of the local history and community in Harold's Cross and in the wider Crumlin and Drimnagh area. In addition to the contribution it makes to the local community, it also makes money. It makes financial sense to maintain the track. It is not operating at a loss. The decision to close the track, and its potential sale, has infuriated both me and the Dublin Greyhound Owners and Breeders Association, which has been protesting against the sale since the news first broke. I would ask the House to support the Dublin Greyhound Owners and Breeders Association and call for the decision to sell the track at Harold's Cross to be reversed. It is a short-term decision that will damage the local community and greyhound racing in the long term. It is appalling.

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that No. 13 be taken before No. 1. I have a seconder.

I will call the seconder in due course.

Senator Gerard Craughwell is the seconder.

He can do that when he rises to speak.

Over recent days, the information that has come to light regarding the vilification and what can only be described as inhumane torture of Garda Sergeant McCabe has shocked people right across this nation. At the outset I commend the strength and raw courage of Maurice McCabe, his wife, Lorraine, and their family. Their quest for truth, transparency, openness and honesty on how An Garda Síochána serves this State is deeply appreciated by all right-minded citizens. This has been a long and painful journey spanning over three Governments, led by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, starting out when Maurice McCabe raised concerns about corrupt practices in the hierarchy of An Garda Síochána in 2008, and then continuing publicly when he and Garda John Wilson brought their concerns into the public domain. The past eight years have seen a concerted campaign by some who call themselves journalists and many other people in authority to discredit, bully and undermine Maurice McCabe and other whistleblowers who attempt to root out despicable and possibly criminal behaviour within An Garda Síochána and other agencies of the State.

How can the Leader expect people to have confidence in this cobbled together Government, propped up by Fianna Fáil, when they have witnessed it preside over a police service in which there is a completely unacceptable level of dysfunction at management level and over a child protection service which asks us to believe the most incredible fairy story I have heard since Bertie told us he won the money on the horses? Why did the Leader oppose the Sinn Féin amendment to the terms of reference of the commission that would have allowed the investigation of contacts between members of An Garda Síochána and the Government, Oireachtas and other State agencies? When was the Taoiseach briefed about the child sex abuse allegations made against Sergeant Maurice McCabe?

I ask the Leader to amend the Order of Business to allow the Minister, Deputy Zappone, to come to this House to make a statement on the mismanagement of Tusla in this regard. This is very important because many citizens and many children rely on Tusla to-----

Is the Senator proposing an amendment to the Order of Business, rather than asking the Leader to do so?

I am proposing an amendment to the Order of Business. Clarity needs to be brought to this matter so that we can have confidence in the many cases that are being dealt with by Tusla at present. People need to know that our child protection services meet the needs of all these children and families.

I want to express my concern and disgust regarding the treatment of Sergeant Maurice McCabe and his family. I just had to mention this on the Order of Business today. As we all know, the greatest fear of any parent is to be accused of mistreating or abusing his or her children. It is an absolute nightmare. The treatment of Maurice McCabe by the organisation he continues to serve and by Tusla has been shameful.

I read this morning in the Irish Examiner that a garda who has made complaints of malpractice is saying he has been subjected to intimidation and harassment. For example, a minor incident between this garda and his wife was referred to Tusla. It is reported that this case is known to the Minister and the Garda Commissioner. How many more cases are known? Does the Leader agree that there should be full disclosure of any files held by Tusla regarding any other Garda whistleblower? This should include the name of the person who made the initial report to Tusla.

If public confidence in the Garda is to be restored, it is essential for everyone involved in the mistreatment of Maurice McCabe and his family to be held accountable. The role of Tusla also needs to be investigated because the credibility of this organisation is in serious trouble. A full public inquiry is needed now. Anything less will prolong the agony of the McCabe family. It is time for all agencies and individuals with any knowledge of Maurice McCabe's mistreatment to be heard. I hope Sergeant McCabe is heard at last and is treated with the dignity and respect he and his family deserve.

A significant gender gap in the fitness levels of teenagers has been revealed in the results of a report that has been published on foot of the Irish Life Health schools fitness challenge, which was carried out in Irish schools last year. The most concerning aspect of the researchers' findings is that the gender gap widens as teenagers make the transition through secondary school. In first year, boys are 32% fitter than girls, but this increases to 41% in fourth year and so the trend continues.

The researchers found that a significant proportion of girls drop out of sport for social and academic reasons as they make the transition through education. These findings are unsettling from the perspective of childhood health and obesity, which is an issue on which I regularly work. When adolescent girls fall into unhealthy lifestyles at a young age, it becomes increasingly difficult to reverse that pattern in later life. Girls should be encouraged at home and in school to continue to play sports throughout their years in education. If they are not aware of the long-term benefits of sporting activity, they need to be informed of them.

Playing sports can be particularly beneficial for physical and mental health, especially when the pressures of the leaving certificate, etc., start to manifest themselves. I believe we are struggling to deal with this issue in general. I have called on numerous occasions for a debate in the House on childhood obesity. I hope we can have such a debate with the Minister of State, Deputy Corcoran Kennedy, in the near future. We could discuss many matters that come under this heading. The stark findings of the report I have mentioned represent one such matter. I would welcome an opportunity to debate them with the Minister of State.

It is clear that we will not be having a commission of investigation into the issues surrounding Sergeant McCabe because there has been a political move towards a full public inquiry or tribunal of investigation. As a result, this week we will not be dealing with the business that was originally slated.

The Leader might, at some point over the next few days, inform the House what he knows about the ordering of business to provide space to consider the legislation that will be required. All of us in the House support Sergeant Maurice McCabe and his family. He has been treated scandalously by the State and its agencies. The conduct of the Government in recent days has drawn the public's attention to the dysfunctional arrangements made in the administration of the State. It has shortened the lifetime of the Government because it is very difficult to see how the public can continue to have trust in a Government that has behaved in the way it has in the past few days. We have had several contradictory statements from Ministers and I understand the opportunity has not yet been taken in the Houses to correct the record. The people need to have confidence in the Ministers who are administering the State. Because of the way they have behaved recently that certainly is not the case. It would be useful if the three Ministers in question which include the Taoiseach were to set the record straight on what they knew and when. Is it the case, in fact, that some people knew an awful lot about this matter and then decided to forget it? In the meantime, Sergeant McCabe and his family should be at the forefront of our concerns. As I said, the Labour Party fully supports the idea of a full public inquiry or tribunal in order that these matters could be aired in public. Given the experience of Sergeant McCabe and the O'Higgins examination of the issues involved, it is fair to say Sergeant McCabe would not have any confidence in an examination of matters of this importance that would take place behind closed doors. As parliamentarians, we should acknowledge and reflect on the seriousness of a State agency having an open file on allegations of child abuse against an individual, as well as a file on his family, and this information being propagated with impunity by others. I would not be surprised if we were not just dealing with matters before a tribunal of inquiry but also, potentially, looking at a criminal investigation at some point down the line.

I wish to raise an issue I have raised previously in the House - the chronic and severe shortage of substitute teachers in the State's schools, which issue has been to the forefront in the media in recent days. The situation has become so bad that it is anticipated that some schools may actually have to close because they have no other choice as they have no substitute teachers to stand in. The Irish National Teachers Organisation estimates that, on average, 800 to 1,000 substitute schoolteachers are needed on a day-to-day basis, but currently there are only 30 stand-by teachers available for 3,300 schools. That is a chronic figure and illustrates how bad the system is. It is at breaking point and principals may have no choice but to close schools. Recruitment fairs are very much in vogue in third level colleges. Very attractive packages are offered to young teachers coming out of college. In places such as Abu Dhabi and in the Middle East generally tax free packages are offered, plus perks, to individuals willing to go there on 12-month or two-year contracts. That is what the State is competing with. People are voting with their feet and taking up these contracts. When a school cannot find a substitute teacher, a number of things happen. A class is divided creating a larger one. This means that the most vulnerable children and those with special needs are the ones to suffer and lose out. I ask the Leader to bring this matter to the attention of the Minister for Education and Skills and ask him to ensure action is taken immediately to ensure the crisis will not move beyond this point.