Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I too am glad to be able to speak to this Bill tonight, although I cannot say "glad" because this matter is scandalous and downright outrageous. The Minister was in opposition as spokesman on planning and the environment for long enough. To bring forward this kind of Bill in the eleventh and a half hour before Christmas, cúpla lá roimh an Nollaig, is shocking. The Minister is only new and I wish him well in his job, but there is huge disconcertment and disconnect between the Executive and the democratic system in this country. It is shameful that we could be fined up €15 million for ineptitude and for the lethargic and disgraceful executives who would not do the work they are paid to do, which they have a right to do and should do. They will not do it. They will pay these fines and there could be tens of millions more. How many other ways are we being fined by the European Parliament? Deputy O'Donoghue and I met a very eminent gentleman last night who knows a lot about Europe and what is going on there. There are many areas in Europe that we could learn from and get solace for our people who are in trouble, such as homeowners, farmers and businesspeople, but the Government will not invoke any of those. It will take the fines and be the good boys of Europe. This is outrageous.

There are many areas in the plan and this Covid situation is a silent takeover by the executives and by county councils. The county development plans should all be stopped in their tracks for the duration of Covid. We can amend legislation here and the Government can even bring in hearsay legislation to suit the banks and the vulture funds in the middle of this pandemic so we should stop this in its tracks, because people cannot have public meetings. They have to have public meetings. There is little engagement and a lot of disrespect for the public from senior planners. In my own county, up to 200 submissions have been made on the Cahir local area plan. My daughter, who is a councillor, was informed that there is a meeting on it next week and she is not happy because they are not listening to the public. It is just a token exercise. Our county development plan is the same, while the 2040 plan ruination is raining all over Ireland. Nothing can be done while all those situations are going on. It is just unbelievable.

The whole area around protected structures needs to be examined because it is putting crippling prices on people with thatched houses. They were deemed lovely and nice to keep but they cannot live in them and they cannot keep them maintained. Where is the money for that going to come from? It is the same with other buildings and facades, as Deputy O'Donoghue mentioned.

I also want to talk about the situation regarding the Land Development Agency. As I said, the plans should be stopped but when they start, and they will be starting soon, the councillors in Tipperary can do all they like about it, make the plan and the rest - as is their divine right and their reserved function - but they can be overruled by the Land Development Agency. It is another layer the Government put in. It is to hell or to Connacht for the people with this Government and successive Governments. This is part of the greater plan and this is why I am so suspicious about Covid, what is being done under the cloak of Covid and the silent takeover.

Deputy Boyd Barrett referred to the alienation of people. It is shocking. It is happening right across the world and more so in Europe. Béal dúnta and eyes closed, fear stalks the land. The Government arrested a publican in Mayo who was saving his business by doing antigen tests and it threatened a priest in Cavan. Six gardaí, including two female sergeants and four gardaí, visited him on a Sunday morning to strike fear into him. My goodness, where are we going to stop? Six gardaí came on a Sunday morning and they do not care about God nor man. They did not care. The Government is frightening the life out of people. What is going on right in front of us under the name of Covid is shocking. Covid is serious and we have to respect it, but there is blackguarding going on with the number of businesspeople who are going to be wiped off this earth. The musicians cannot play and many more people like the small self-employed people will be gone because the Government wants them all to be paupers. It throws them a few bob and thinks it owes them nothing.

If the Minister cannot wake up and see that is what is going on, he should not be where he is because that is what is going on. We are going to have the vaccine now. A minute's discussion for each Member in our group is all we are going to have tomorrow on the roll-out of the vaccine. Where is the democracy? The founding father of Fianna Fáil and Bunreacht na hÉireann, Éamon de Valera, must be turning in his grave at an awful rate with what Fianna Fáil is doing now with democracy. We only have a minute per Deputy to discuss something like the roll-out of a vaccine. The Minister should be ashamed of himself with what is going on and what he is bringing in here by rushing this legislation. He knows what has been done here in the last nine or ten years and he will do it again. The executives will go off on their holidays for Christmas. I mean no disrespect but they are not doing their jobs and many of them should be fired. They are doing the job of cloaking the people, diminishing the people and alienating the people. It is shocking what is going on.

The HSE is running riot. I just had another phone call to say it is moving another service out of Tipperary, or there are rumours of it which it will not deny or clarify. The abdication of responsibility is shocking and so is the way the Government is blackguarding the elected people both here in the Oireachtas and down in the county councils. It has no respect for democracy. It is a dictatorship it wants.

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