Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I too am delighted to speak and I assure the Minister that the Rural Independent Group will not be found wanting when it comes to these delicate and sensitive negotiations.

We are in the 59th minute of the 11th hour and I heard all the talk from the former Taoiseach, now the Tánaiste, telling us about the backstop and all the reassurances he had. Then we fell off the trough and Covid took over completely. People in the country have switched off. I questioned the Taoiseach this morning about the health situation, RTÉ, the previous Taoiseach and himself and the fact that we have dosed the people morning, noon and night with Covid. We have forgotten about this most important issue, our nearest and - I nearly said "dearest" but they were not always our dearest - neighbours and the implications for trade, education, the road haulage business, tourism and people with British driving licences. There are multiple implications.

The Good Friday Agreement was an international agreement and that must be respected. Prime Minister Johnson is elected now and he is making lots of noise and the British people voted to go. We should have accepted that long ago instead of hoping they would not go and they would change their mind like we did regarding Nice and Lisbon, when we went back twice, but they did not. They made a decision and they stuck with it. We have to live with it but we have not done any preparations.

I listened to Deputy Verona Murphy yesterday and again today on the IMDO, which is advising the Government. This is the problem with this Government and the last one. They have too many cohorts of advisors and consultants and if one wants to cross the road or cross the Liffey, one has to get a consultant to do a study. They are not being told the truth. As has been pointed out, with Covid it is a whole chain situation. Many of the cases have not been properly examined. We do not have a proper port or connectivity at Rosslare. That is why I was fighting for the M24 from the west into Shannon, Limerick and Tipperary town and on to Waterford and Rosslare. Connectivity is vital, as is a fast port with roll-on, roll-off from Rosslare. There is a fund in the EU but are we even looking for it? Will the Minister clarify that for us: have we looked for the funding to put in infrastructure for those daily services? We need connectivity.

The road haulage situation is perilous. One sees them stopped on road blocks. They are on a tight schedule with tachographs in the cab, delivering from farm to fork. For all our export issues, time is of the essence. They cannot afford to be delayed further and any of them I meet doing international travel are very frightened. Will they have right of passage? We need to be serious about how desperate this is.

I am disappointed because the Minister mentioned everything about transport and how patients in Northern Ireland can come down south and go to other European countries but he forgot to mention the issue that Deputies Collins and Danny Healy-Rae have been asking about day-in, day-out for the last several months. Many people in the Minister's constituency are going blind or would go blind only for Deputy Collins's bus to Belfast. "Belfast or blind", is rightly said. Are they going to go on? Why will the Government not come clean on this? The Taoiseach has been asked and he just waffles and tells people they are canvassing outside mass to bring them up. It is a serious situation. The health service here is not fit for purpose. We had this release valve. We need that release valve and we need certainty because people are booked in to go.

I had people in Tipperary, and I thank Councillor Danny Collins and the staff in his office for the work they do, who collect patients at three or four o'clock in the morning, get them on buses and go up. They have obliged me in Tipperary by bringing passengers from Cashel up. It is a wonderful service but it is a shame and disgrace that we have to do it. That is going to be cut off now. Many people in the HSE would love to have it cut off because they are embarrassed by the fact that our taxpayers' money is paying to get operations done in Kingsbridge Private Hospital. I thank the staff in Kingsbridge for being so helpful. The Minister never mentioned that and he studiously avoided it in his script. I have looked at his script and it is not in it.

We need those answers and clarification but we also need certainty for students who go to college in England and vice versa. They had a tough enough time last year and this year in their first year of college and they need certainty. There are many areas where we are closing the stable gate when the horse has bolted.

The presidential candidate Joe Biden made lots of noises. Let us see when he gets into the White House if he will be as solid as we want him to be. I hope he will because we need friends now more than ever and we need to maintain relationships with people in the UK and across the Border. We need to go forward as one and do this together as an island nation as well. Ní neart go cur le chéile.

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