Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister knows I have admiration for her, but it is disappointing and an insult to this House that neither the Taoiseach or the Tánaiste are here today after five weeks. One is in Davos and I do not know where Deputy Martin is. I refute out of hand the allegations that Deputy Bríd Smith made about the Rural Independents and me misleading the Dáil and our voting record on votes of confidence, the eviction Bill and so on but that is nothing new. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman is present. He has made a mess in Roscrea. The good people of Roscrea are welcoming and have welcomed so many. They organised lorries to go out with aid when the war started in Ukraine and did the same with many other charitable causes. The mishandling of the situation there is the responsibility of the Government and the Garda seriously mishandling it too. I have written to both the chief superintendent and superintendent. I did not get any response. There is a total mishandling and besmirching of good people. Their only functioning hotel up to last Thursday was just taken away by a greedy developer. It is a shame.

We need a full debate on immigration policy.

We had one in our Private Members' time and we got lampooned and God knows what. We need a policy. It is not functioning. It is ham-fisted. Now, as the Government goes along, it throws money at a problem two days later to save some backbenchers. It is dysfunctional in the extreme.

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