Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ar an gcéad dul síos, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an gCeann Comhairle agus le gach éinne atá ag obair sa Teach seo.

On behalf of the Rural Independent Group, I extend my gratitude and thanks to you, a Cheann Comhairle, Peter Finnegan, Brigid McGlynn, and all the staff, from those we meet at the front gate when we come in, the ushers especially, to the cleaners, secretarial staff, printers, gardaí and everybody else, for looking after us so well in the Thirty-third Dáil. I express my heartfelt thanks.

What do hotels like Racket Hall in Roscrea, Dundrum House Hotel, Hearns Hotel in Clonmel and Kilcoran Lodge Hotel, a beautiful hotel in Cahir, have in common? They form a vein through the centre of Tipperary. The British had a policy of dividing and conquering, but the Government is dividing and conquering the people now. It is dividing the people. Without consultation, and against the will of the people, the Government has forced International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, persons into these hotels. The Government has stopped them trading as hotels, which is hugely damaging to the economy. The fact is that there was no consultation whatsoever and the will of the people is being denied. People will have a chance to reflect on what the Government has done to them in three weeks' time. It is shameful the way Tipperary has been treated.

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