Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be as brief as I can. I wish to speak to amendment No. 24. Like the previous speakers, I feel the Minister seems to have set his face against accepting any idea, suggestion, engagement or interaction with the Opposition. I do not want to be repetitive. That is what is happening now. We have been locked out of everything for more than 13 months. That includes the other Opposition groups and the one I lead. The Minister knows best; he knows it all.

This amendment simply asks for things we should know, such as the number of times the section was invoked, what impact it had, whether there was any analysis as to whether there could have been a better outcome and whether we can improve it. Surely, what we are about in this House, in politics and in public and community life, is to make things better for everyone. Deputy McNamara is much more learned than me in legal matters. As he said, this the last chance we are going to get. If the Minister does not accept any of these amendments then he is away again on his merry way to sign stacks of statutory instruments on a whim. He probably will not even read them all. The powers the Minister is granting himself and that we are granting him in this House are extraordinary. It seems like the House is happy to do it. The first vote on Second Stage was in double figures. As I said, some Teachtaí Dála are telling the public these powers are not all in the Bill but they clearly are.

I do not want to delay the process but I have huge issues with the Covid certificates. I raised it with the Taoiseach and got no answers. I also want to know about the position of people who have recovered from Covid. Why was the period nine months and why was it reduced to six months? Is the Covid certificate just a tool to get to 93% or 94% or whatever percentage the Government wants to tell people it has rolled out vaccines to, so it can pat itself on the back? We know there is a third jab. The Tánaiste said at some stage it was not a booster but a third jab. Will there be four, five and six doses? When is it going to stop? I understand 22.5 million doses have been purchased ahead of time.

The Government has a plot here, and it thickens. It does not take a very bright person to see where it is going. That is why the Government is losing the public. That is why NPHET has lost the support of the public as well. We must weigh up the greater good. There has been no impact analysis on how the Covid certificate diminished in any shape or form the spread of Covid-19 infections. None. I asked for it today and all the Taoiseach could tell me was he had no answers. I asked him if he would lay before the House the science, information and everything else. The answer was "No". It is like the day of the last briefing we had in Government Buildings. I questioned Dr. Holohan three times about the churches being closed despite being fine big airy buildings.

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