Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As I understand it, reimbursement of the necessary medical expenses to eligible residents of Northern Ireland is an exceptional provision which is being proposed by the Government in the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement. I welcome that. I never mention the agreement without mentioning a former Deputy, Minister of State and Senator, Professor Martin Mansergh, as well as Father Alec Reid, two Tipperary men who worked hard with former Taoisigh Bertie Ahern and Albert Reynolds. Father Reid, Martin McGuinness and many others have gone to their eternal reward. It was a milestone agreement and we will do anything we can do to support it. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle knows more about it than I do as he is from a Border county which is one of the nine counties of Ulster. He understands the situation.

It is important that we maintain continuity where possible. The Bill seeks to achieve that. I am worried about some of the legislation because so much of it is going through the House very quickly. These Bills are being rushed; time is not on our side. Legal scrutiny and everything else is sparse. We need to be cautious.

Irrespective of that, I welcome the provision on the eligibility of certain British citizens to apply for financial support under the affordable childcare scheme proposed as part of the Government's commitment to maintain the common travel area, CTA, and its associated rights and privileges. The CTA is very important and borders and customs are issues, but the problem when it comes to Cavan or Letterkenny general hospitals is where we are going to put people. We cannot look after our own. I understand 570 people are on trolleys today. The issue has become sanitised. As Professor Paul O'Regan said, trolleys are fine but because of where they are placed there is a lack of services around them. There are no electrical points for blood transfusions and so on. South Tipperary General Hospital often does not have blankets, pillows or sheets for people on trolleys. There is no proper access to any services.

I have said before and will say again now that the Minister, the head of the HSE and other top people should be brought to The Hague and charged with the crime of sleep deprivation. They are perpetrating war on unfortunate people, from 16 year olds up to people who are 100 years of age. A person aged 103 was on a trolley recently. I honestly think it is a pity. While we welcome the Bill, it is bizarre that we will pile more on top of more while we cannot provide services. I welcome the €2 million provided for autism, which I read about on a flyer yesterday. Any amount of money to deal with autism is welcome-----

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