Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Tá ceist mhór agam i gcomhair an Aire Stáit. What was the delay in putting Ireland's application forward? The big question remains as to the delay at the European Commission and why we only looked for €1 billion. I was always taught as a little buachaill óg going to the shop to look for more than one could get and take one's share then.

Denmark, which has a similar population to Ireland, is receiving an allocation of €1.6 billion, which is almost double the allocation Ireland is receiving, which is €900 million. Belgium with a population twice that of Ireland will receive €5.9 billion under this programme, which is three times the allocation Ireland is receiving based on population. Croatia, with a population less than that of Ireland, will receive €6.3 billion, which is more than six times the allocation of Ireland. Are we or are our officials the laggards? Sweden, which has a population of about twice that of Ireland, requested a total of €3.2 billion.

Here we are the good boys of Europe, where we rock up to say that we are a month late putting in the application. What are Department officials doing? This is across all Departments because we cannot get an answer from any of them. They had better wake up and dust themselves down from Covid-19, look for these answers and pony them up. We are being blackguarded in Europe and treated like schoolboys in the bold boy corner. Imagine getting €900 million when other countries with similar populations are getting three or six times as much as we are. What is going on? I know that we are the lackeys of Europe where we sold and destroyed our fishing industry and everything else, but this is outrageous. The Minister of State has a great deal to answer for as has the Taoiseach and everybody else.

It simply beggars belief that this could be allowed to go on, where we receive such a pittance. Why would we not accept this when we always take what we get, are the good boys of Europe, pay homage to it always and do not even look for money? We looked for €1 billion and we received €900 million. The others looked for €6 billion and they received €3 billion or €4 billion. This is crazy stuff and we need answers.

EU passports are part of a plan. We discussed EU passports in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Nobody blamed Covid-19 then as it was not an issue. This is all part of the control. We are the wonderful boys who will do anything that is asked of us. We will lie down and let them eat cake. This is a shocking indictment of our officials and of our country. That we can come back with that sort of a package, which we applied late for and in such a feeble manner, is scandalous.

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