Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I begin by wishing my sincere sympathy, and that of my group, to any family which has lost a loved one to Covid and to anyone who has been seriously debilitated as a result of it. I also wish to praise An Garda Síochána and condemn last nights' incident. I thank the Garda, front-line staff, hospital staff, nursing home staff and all the people. The meitheal spirit came back in when this plague hit us. However, the reaction of the Government has tried to destroy that meitheal spirit. Much has been said here. I object to this Bill being taken today because we were meant to have a sunset clause of 9 June. That was passed by people although I voted against it. I did vote for it in early times back at the very beginning because I, like everyone else, was frightened but thanks be to God the impact was nothing like what was feared. I saw very soon that we needed to let the people live as well, and live with Covid. However, we did not do so. I must raise the way the Government has treated us as Opposition leaders. Neither the Minister for Health nor the Taoiseach have met Opposition leaders since last October. The Minister for Health has never once replied to any question I have asked him in the Chamber. I put parliamentary questions in as does Deputy McGuinness. He gets replies, thank God; I do not.

At least he gets those replies, although they might be a disgrace and not fit for purpose, as he said. The Minister is demonstrating arrogance in treating the House like this, depriving it of its powers to represent the people. This is not insulting me but rather the people in Tipperary who elected me to come here and get answers to questions and provide some leadership.

The Minister has known since March that an ordinary discussion of the sunset clause and vote would not do. Why did he not tell us earlier? I found out today from Deputy Cullinane that there was a briefing for the health spokespersons of groups last week but we were not invited. Sections of our democracy have been put in the bold boy corner. Apparently they did not need to come. That is shameful.

This year, four Bills on this matter have been put in front of us. I want to be fair but critical of the media, particularly RTÉ. On Tuesday last week, it was leaked from the Cabinet that the emergency provisions would be extended and Mr. Paul Cunningham tweeted this as a fact, despite the fact that there was yet to be debate, amendments and votes in the Seanad and here. He was asked by a very eminent barrister to withdraw the claim made in the tweet but he did not even acknowledge it. It is the same with The Irish Timesand the Irish Independent, which gave the impression this was a done deal. Is this House so irrelevant now and our democratic system so undermined the media can tell people such things via tweets? It frightened people and my phone and those of many others started ringing, with people calling from all over the country.

People were calling us because they were worried. Why was that kind of blackguarding going on? The news was leaked but the Bill still had to come through this House. I know the Minister does not have much respect for us but the legislation must come through here. We have the right to speak to the Bill and oppose it. We will oppose it 100%.

I have said that extensions to four pieces of legislation constitute the Health and Criminal Justice (Covid-19) Bill 2021 that we are now debating. Why was it necessary to introduce a new Bill as each Bill could have been dealt with individually? Does the Minister consider the extension of Part 3 in the Act to be so important as to justify an individual vote by all Teachtaí Dála so that all of those who continue to vote in favour of this "draconian" legislation - to quote the Minister's words from the Seanad on Monday - can be held to account by the public?

The Minister said in the Seanad that these measures were draconian and he called them worse while he was in opposition, saying he would never support them. He tripped over them when he became a Minister and got into power. To hell with the people or the accountability to this House at that stage.

Is it the case that Part 3 of the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020 has been lumped in with other legislation in order to create confusion, conflate matters and give Deputies an out if they want to vote in favour of an extension, citing that they are not just voting on Part 3 of that Act? This is a three card trick, as I said. The Minister is trying to kid us but he will not kid us or the people.

Why did the Cabinet make selective leaks about this emergency legislation, including extending Part 3 of the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020, in full knowledge that a vote would have to take place in this House? Where is the accountability and respect for Teachtaí Dála in this House?

There have been unfortunate deaths. I hope those responsible in the State will be brought to The Hague or somewhere for crimes against humanity. Some 2,000 people died in nursing homes and they all had families and loved ones. Some 750 people contracted Covid in a hospital ward, including a good friend of mine. That is 2,750 deaths, if we can believe any of the figures. They have been up and down and changed around, all so as to create fear, intimidate and destroy democracy.

One death is one too many and I sympathise with families and staff in nursing homes and hospitals. They could not even have a funeral, time with their loved ones or a family wake, which we hold so dear in Ireland. I hope the Minister will be held accountable. He was not there at the start but another Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, was, along with the rest of them. Somebody must be held accountable.

We now know 99.1% of people tested are negative but apparently we still want to proceed with this draconian legislation for a further six months. We fought for a sunset clause that would take effect on 9 June, which we got, but now the Minister is piling on another four Bills on top of the original legislation.

Why is antigen testing not being used? The whole of Europe and the rest of the world is using antigen testing. A couple contacted my office last night with a sad story. It was a young man and his wife, whose dad is a distant cousin of mine. Her father is terminally ill and receiving palliative care. The husband and wife, along with their four kids, arrived in a port in Ireland by car to come see her dying father. They had used antigen tests so they were sent back and mercilessly refused entry to this country. They had to travel back to where they came from on a later ferry without seeing the woman's dad, the grandfather of the children. What kind of trauma does this inflict on people? It is inhumane. We see what happens at borders in Third World countries and say it is inhumane but this is an equivalent level. We are meant to be a civilised country. The antigen tests are accepted all over the world but not here.

Many people have said PCR tests are inaccurate. I am not a scientist but the system is flawed. It is being kept so vested interests can make money. There are conglomerates in major industries that have doubled their income in this pandemic while small family businesses and those who are self-employed, including the man with a van, performers, actors, dancers and staging personnel, have seen havoc wreaked on their livelihoods. The conglomerates, meanwhile, are doubling or tripling their income. There is much money being made, and as Churchill said, never waste a good crisis.

These events are being hijacked and the Minister is a willing accomplice. He had no experience. I would give anybody a chance and I wished the Minister well on his appointment. He was an Independent, like me, when he was first elected to the Dáil before jumping ship to the Social Democrats and then jumping again, this time into bed with Fianna Fáil. That was the party he castigated and I would not even repeat the names he called that party as I have many friends in Fianna Fáil. To make it worse, he has treated us arrogantly in this House. He has not once responded to a question from me. The Ceann Comhairle and the Government Chief Whip have asked him to do so. The Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, is the same.

In the middle of a crisis he closed a wonderful hospital in Carrick-on-Suir, St. Brigid's. He met Councillor Kieran Bourke and Deputy Jackie Cahill in July last year and I met Councillor Bourke on the same night. The Minister gave an assurance that the facility would return to normal use when Covid-19 passed but he upturned those words to a colleague in the Fianna Fáil Party. The place was closed in November after all kinds of subterfuge and downright lies. The Minister threw Councillor Burke under the bus. He had a commitment from the Minister, which he broadcast and told people about in good faith. If a man does not have his word, he has absolutely nothing. The wonderful hospital, for which many people fundraised, is gone now and closed. The rooms are dark. We are told there would be a diabetes centre when there is a primary care facility the size of this room folamh. It is a waste. Doctors and nurses worked in that hospital and there were people from my constituency and that of the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, and Deputy McGuinness who used it for the likes of palliative care. People fundraised for beds and kitchen equipment to make it a bit easier to provide the excellent palliative care. It was about making people's last days comfortable. Boxes were left at funerals as goodwill donations and all that was thrown back in the face of the people.

This entire episode has been a massive slap in the face for democracy. I have used words several times and I will not mention them today. I mentioned the 1930s in Germany. We approved the powers initially but when we saw they were not necessary, we opened our eyes and asked questions. Anybody who spoke out, whether doctors, consultants or whoever else, was banished, sacked or unceremoniously dismissed. These were the best of people. Dr. Tony Holohan has been challenged by groups of doctors to have a debate but has refused point-blank to meet them.

In the last meeting I had with Dr. Holohan in the Taoiseach's office in Government Buildings, I asked him about the science behind churches being closed. I was very concerned about what had happened to Fr. PJ Hughes, Protestant clergymen and many others but he would not answer me. The third time I asked, the Taoiseach asked him to respond to me. The Minister was there as well. He said "Deputy McGrath, we are dealing with a pandemic, we will do the lockdown and do the science later." What arrogance shown to a public representative or anybody else. He spoke about doing the science later but there has been no science. It has been a con job from the start. There was no science and he would not listen to any debate. RTÉ and the mainstream media were bought out.

They are €5 million better off now than they were when this started. All of the local radio stations, including in my area, got massive money. Not having a contrarian view is very dangerous for democracy. Without proper discourse and debate, we have nothing. I am glad, therefore, that more Opposition Deputies have joined us and will vote against these measures.

As I said, the Minister has known since March that extending the sunset clause would not do, and he kept that information from us. There has been no pre-legislative scrutiny of this Bill, as I said earlier. The Minister introduced it in the Seanad, which is sneaky, because legislation introduced in the Seanad cannot have pre-legislative scrutiny. It is a three-card trick all the time but people are wise to what is going on. None of the four Bills Deputies will vote on this week will have had pre-legislative scrutiny. The Joint Committee on Health could have dealt with the Bill if it had come before it, as it should have given that the Minister has known since March. The crack all the time is that we do not have time, it is an emergency and the legislation is urgent.

The guidelines have been illogical and confusing. Here we go again, waiting until Friday night for more announcements. I have publicans, shopkeepers and those who work in hospitality waiting to find out what is going on. Now the Minister has had a brainwave and people will not be allowed to stay more than one hour and 45 minutes in a public house or restaurant. I believe this is to suit the restaurants in Dublin which want a turnover of business, for which I cannot blame them. The Government is kowtowing to them. The guidelines say that tables indoors must be 1 m apart, and now the back of the chair must be 2 m from the back of the next chair. The Minister is out to finish small pubs completely. The Government is blackguarding small restaurants and hostelries of different hues. It is shocking confusion. Businesses want clarity about starting up again.

I spoke to a good friend of mine, Val O'Gorman, a young businessman who runs Mr Mister in Cahir. I asked him on Thursday how his business was going this week. Business did not start, he said, because people are still not going out. They cannot go anywhere and they have no need to dress up. There is no certainty and there is no real hope.

I salute An Garda Síochána in Tipperary and all over the country. I condemn the horrific event last night. I salute Sergeant Ray Moloney in Cahir Garda station and his excellent team of community gardaí, Jenny Gough, Noel Glavin and the another great garda whose name I cannot recall. I salute Sergeant Kieran O'Regan and Garda Claire Murphy in Clonmel and all the other community gardaí. They do great and sterling work. We are damaging the Garda, however. The Garda stopped a drive-by taxi protest in Dublin. That was draconian and definitely 1930s style. The drivers were not going to get out of their cars.

We also see the damage being done to Aer Lingus pilots, with whom we met over the past days. Our airlines are being destroyed. Will the Minister please do something to save our airlines? We need them. Aer Lingus is a wonderful flagship and there is great respect for our airlines, including Ryanair. We will need connectivity when this pandemic is finished. We met the pilots today and yesterday and they are begging and pleading. They told me the Taoiseach had driven by in his car. When he is out of office the Taoiseach might want to fly Aer Lingus. We will need an airline to fly.

When we consider what is happening at Shannon Airport, we are being destroyed in rural Ireland. The closure of the crew base there is just the latest development. When these operations leave that kind of a set-up, we never get them back. There are opportunities now, if we are looking for them, to have connectivity with other parts of the world and bring in tourists. Ireland has the eighth highest number of American visitors in the world but they are heading to the Caribbean now. We must get those people back here. They are our brethren and diaspora, and they want to come back.

Mar fhocal scoir. I am disappointed and have been let down by the democratic system. It has failed us here. The Minister is continuing to be complicit in this failing. He is actually designing it to fail and to be unfair. We need to get Fáilte Ireland back to getting tourists into Ireland. It has to stop issuing regulations on when people can do what, where and for how long. It knows nothing about that and it has completely denied it had anything to do with the regulations. The Minister uses it as a stool pigeon to blame afterwards. The unfairness and inequity are appalling.

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