Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am to happy stand here this evening but I and the people at home are aghast. In south Tipperary, 976 children are waiting for emergency speech and language treatment. In north Tipperary and east Limerick, the number is 1,079. All the people on the Covid payments will be asked to pay tax on the payments. The hospitals and health services are so bad. We have so many concerns about the failure of the HSE to deal with the pandemic, testing and contact tracing. When the Tánaiste was Minister for Health he chose the site for the national children's hospital. It is now a black hole in history.

I think of the men of 100 years ago. I think of young Michael Hogan, who lost his life with others on Bloody Sunday in Croke Park. I think of Seán Ó Treasaigh and Liam Ó Loingsigh and people like that and then I see the standards here now and how they have failed and slipped. I saw what happened to Phil Hogan in the early 1980s when, by accident, he leaked a page of the budget with nothing written across the top of it about it being private or confidential, and I see the standards now. I see what happened to the former Ministers, Deputies Calleary and Cowen. They had to be held accountable. I lay the blame with the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, for being so feeble, inept and weak in dealing with this. Standards have dropped so much.

I think of what young people, including the class of last year who are now first-year students, have gone through. I think of all the people out there, including the pensioners who could not get a penny in support during the pandemic. Many of them are in business. I think of the many areas of neglect and abuse, the 300,000 people who are waiting for cancer treatment, CervicalCheck, BreastCheck and everything else that is backed up. I think of the issues of mental health. When I see all that, I believe what is going on here tonight is a shame.

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