Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I compliment Sinn Féin on putting down this very timely motion. It is interesting that the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, flees like snow off a ditch when the Rural Independent Group stands up for the first time. It is his responsibility to answer to this House and to listen to all sides. His leaving is a mark of what he thinks of other Deputies in this House.

This freeze is closing the door when the horse has bolted. The horse is long bolted. He has gone to Donegal or somewhere. There is spending chaos. Today, Cabinet had to approve €1 billion to plug a hole for this year. The Department wanted €1.5 billion. There is zero accountability. This is the lowest hanging fruit. Both of the Ministers of State should hang their heads in shame. This affects nurses, home helps and the lowest of the people. I do not mean "lowest" in any derogatory way. As I said earlier, they are most wonderful. I refer to na banaltraí iontacha and the staff who do tremendous work across our hospitals. There are plans rolled out throughout the year. We have heard what the INMO and IMO have said about the freeze. Last year, a commitment was given to junior doctors. They do Trojan work and keep the health service propped up. They were promised that a certain number would be recruited. Where does that lie now? It is in tatters. What good is making an agreement with people if unilateral decisions like this can be made?

The Government will not look at where the waste is. I refer to the scandalous waste at the top. What about the commitments to roll out boards and different kinds of initiatives? What about strategic working groups and advisory committees? All of these people should be brought in as was done in respect of Sláintecare. One of our colleagues, Dr. Harty, chaired that meeting and when he came in here to introduce its findings Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and everybody else threw him under the bus.

Thousands are waiting for home helps. Elderly people, those trying to care for them and sick and vulnerable people are waiting for home helps. For the last two years, the policy has been to approve applications within days of them coming in, knowing that no one will be available to do the job. It is a disgusting three-card trick, conning the people. People are told they will be given help and that their applications will be approved, no problem, but there is no one to do the job. That is mean and low. These are the people who built this country, brought us into this world, worked hard and paid their taxes.

We are picking on the weakest sector in spite of the money the Secretary General, senior managers and the CEO are on and the obscene funding they are given. They face absolutely zero accountability for any of their actions. Do not get me wrong; an awful lot of good work goes on in the HSE but there are too many misadventures, tragic deaths and people being mistreated without any accountability.

I had a man in my office yesterday and he cannot even get his file or papers. He has made a freedom of information request and he cannot get them. It is shocking what is going on.

Is there any hope at all that somebody would do an audit of the property owned and rented by the HSE? We have hospitals that had 1,000 people in them, including St. Luke's Hospital in Clonmel, not that long ago - 30 years ago - and now it is full of offices. We have hospitals like that all over the country. We had St. Brigid's Hospital in Carrick-on-Suir closed. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, closed it, even though it is only up the road from her and her constituents used it. What is inside it now? More clerical staff and fiddle-faddle or whatever is going on. There is a white elephant beside it empty that was built as a so-called primary care centre. It is a con and it is spin. The HSE has property everywhere and it has property rented everywhere. What is it all for? I do not know. How did the HSE manage when it did not have this property? How did it manage when it did not have the legions of secretaries and middle managers? There were good treatments and people in the HSE and there still are many good people in the HSE and the Department of Health. They are on the front line but they are being blackguarded by successive Governments and Ministers. I say that to na hAirí Stáit and they know that.

The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, was reported to have stormed out of a meeting with some officials recently and I do not blame her for having done so. More of that needs to happen because the officials are not held to account. They are only pushing paper and appointing new layers of management. There is management and paper and no service for the people. It is a shame under the Irish Constitution. It is a crying shame for the people who fought to get freedom for this country that this kind of monstrosity could gobble up the system of the HSE. Two former Fianna Fáil taoisigh told me they would disband it. Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen told me that when they were Taoiseach and it is still going on and getting bigger with fewer services being provided.

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