Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There were 35 people on trolleys in Limerick hospital today. There was none in Clonmel, thankfully, but we are facing that prospect and Limerick, which also serves Tipperary, has the highest numbers in the country on trolleys most times. I refer to St. Brigid's Hospital in Carrick-on-Suir. How many more times must we plead with the Minister at least to reopen the hospice beds, that were mainly provided by the people of Carrick-on-Suir, west Waterford and south Kilkenny, who fundraised for those beds? We could never use St. Michael's mental health unit in Clonmel because it was closed, yet it is now done up and open for the Covid-19 crisis, but with no patients. Will it now be possible to use it for mental health patients, because we do not have one long-stay bed for mental health in Tipperary?

Catheter care in the south east is just not good enough, as my colleague from Waterford mentioned. All lives matter to us in the south east as well. I also refer to the whole situation regarding BreastCheck, cervical checks and many more screening services that are so badly needed. A woman contacted me this evening about BreastCheck. She has two young children, is 34 years old and is hugely concerned about her husband while waiting for that test. The Minister might quote figures for procedures that are being done, but they are only a symptom of the waiting and what will be waiting. I am sure all the Deputies here have people in contact with them every day of the week.

I turn to the whole scandal of the private hospitals and the facilities in City West. That is ongoing and the Minister is going to keep it going. That is why people are so annoyed. I turn to the scandal of the 170,000 people, I think that is the number but I do not have the exact figures, who applied to Ireland's Call. I think a minuscule number, some 74, were employed. We hear the Taoiseach going on about spin. He is the biggest spinner. One of the biggest fertiliser spreaders in the world would not be as good as him to spin. He spins and spins. Sinn Féin has been referred to as "Spin Féin", but there will be plenty of time, because eventually those spinning around on a spinning top fall off and get hurt. I refer to the situation of leaving these people waiting and the associated worry, angst, anxiety and trauma.

As I stated previously, we need a new wing on South Tipperary General Hospital. Where is that in the planning? Cardiac care in Waterford is pushed back repeatedly and is now to start in the second quarter of 2021. It is just not good enough. All the people, such as third and fourth-year nurses and care assistants, who answered the call are now contacting all of us. We are hearing that people who came home from Australia, Canada and wherever cannot get jobs. The Minister, however, glibly said to David McCullagh, that if posts are available, it will be ensured that they get them. The phrase "posts are available" is key, as other Deputies pointed out earlier.

All lives matter to me, from the womb to the tomb. I have written to the Minister and asked him when he is going to publish the lists of unborn babies that have been aborted in 2019. He is due to do that before the end of June this year. What is the delay? I have written to the Minister and I want an urgent answer. The destruction of human life is just shocking and why will the Government not publish the figures, as it is obliged to in the draconian legislation that was passed? I want answers to that question immediately.

I also want to state that there is great angst regarding the churches. Are we going to be driven back to the mass rocks, like we were in the penal days? People of all faiths have been more than compliant. I visited the Saints Peter and Paul Church in Clonmel, and Fr. Toomey and Canon Crowley, during the week. There are many other churches as well, but I refer to all of the efforts they have gone to in that church and all of the stages, as another Deputy mentioned. They are horrified that people would be pitted against people, such as the caretaker in the church or the sacristan, or whoever is going to stop the people coming in beyond the fiftieth person and tell people "sorry" and the church cannot take any more people. That is just not doable.

The Minister should take control from NPHET. For the time being, anyway, Deputy Harris is the Minister. Perhaps he might be here next week as well. I do not wish that he will, to be honest, because his record in health, as far as I am concerned and it is nothing personal, has been abysmal. I hope, therefore, that he will not be in the same position as Minister. I do not wish him any ill health. I wish him well, and his wife and child as well. However, we have to be allowed to have our faith. Spiritual nourishment is vital to people. The bishops are annoyed over this and rightly so. They have fought the good fight and have been the good servants to the Government and the country.

I called this a scamdemic some time ago. I am not going back on that, because the longer this goes on and the carry on with the churches, it is more like a scam than anything else. It is possible to have a pub packed, while a church with high ceilings, higher than in this Chamber, like Saints Peters and Paul's, that can hold 680 people, is only allowed 50 attendees. It is time the people were allowed to go back, or they will be forced to go to the mass rock. We have a very good anniversary mass every year out in Newcastle in the Knockmealdown mountains. We will have to go out there again and we will. I urge the people to go to mass in large numbers if they want to. To hell with the diktat from NPHET. I am not a lawbreaker, but there is no law now because the pandemic, if it ever was there, is gone, and they are not breaking any law. Deputy McNamara pointed that out to the Minister two weeks ago. If it is a pandemic, we do have emergency legislation, but if it is not a pandemic, there is no legislation and the Minister is on very thin ice.

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