Results 5,801-5,820 of 20,894 for speaker:Mattie McGrath

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (26 Aug 2020)

Mattie McGrath: Sorry, 22 cases. There were four confirmed cases of Covid-19 in ICU beds.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (26 Aug 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I thank the Chairman. That is better again. People are rightly concerned as to why we have a lockdown, in particular in one county. The pub industry has been closed down, despite it having no part to play in spreading the virus. There has been damage to the economy and mental health as well as other side effects, such as people who are waiting for a plethora of procedures. Can we now...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (26 Aug 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I wish to speak about another situation that gives mixed messages. I compliment the community in Golden, in my county, where an incident broke out two weeks ago in Walsh Mushrooms. I got a phone call from Kate Killeen of the HSE, whom I thank and who kept me informed. The Army, the Garda, the Ambulance Service and everybody else rolled in and did the testing on a parish site. This can be...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (26 Aug 2020)

Mattie McGrath: We all, leaders of groups and parties, had weekly briefings with NPHET, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste. They have stopped as of two months ago at least. While many of them were not hugely useful, we need to be kept abreast at least. All our groups, meaning the representatives of the people, need to know what is going on.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (26 Aug 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I accept that. I am talking about the briefings for the party and group leaders. They were held weekly and we all attended. They suddenly stopped, way before the summer recess. They have not resumed. Perhaps it is a political question.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I thank the witnesses for their attendance. There have been a lot of illogical situations in terms of our handling of the Covid-19 crisis. I earlier mentioned that we set out to flatten the curve, and we did. Why is NPHET victimising one particular segment of our economy, namely, pubs, without any evidence? Who came up with the guideline that if a person has a €9 meal, he or she is...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I would like to comment on that point. The Minister was quoted as saying at a recent press conference that in one weekend 6,000 pubs were inspected and 26 were found to be non-compliant. That can be compared with the meat plants. There is one in my own home town of Cahir. Only 39 inspections were carried out in meat plants and 30 of those were preannounced. Those figures are stark. They...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (Resumed) (26 Aug 2020)

Mattie McGrath: The factory in Cahir ten miles away was not closed. The tests were done by a private company behind closed doors. There was space in the mushroom plant. Why was there a difference between what happened in Golden and what happened ten miles away? The HSE did an excellent job, as did the Garda and everyone in Golden with the locals, and I compliment the local community. It was a whole...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Direct Provision System (30 Jul 2020)

Mattie McGrath: The Minister will reply when the Deputy has finished.

Opening of Schools and Calculated Grades: Statements (30 Jul 2020)

Mattie McGrath: The Minister can make some final remarks if she wishes. I thank everybody for their forbearance. It is very late.

Teachtaireacht ón Seanad - Message from Seanad (30 Jul 2020)

Mattie McGrath: Seanad Éireann has passed the Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (No. 2) Bill 2020 without amendment.

Ábhair Shaincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Matters (30 Jul 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 37 and the name of the Member in each case: (1) Deputies Paul Murphy, Mick Barry, Thomas Pringle and Bríd Smith - the issue of asylum seeker conditions and the hunger strike by residents of the Skellig Star direct provision centre in Cahersiveen; (2) Deputy Neale Richmond -...

Opening of Schools and Calculated Grades: Statements (30 Jul 2020)

Mattie McGrath: Did Deputy Pringle have another question?

Opening of Schools and Calculated Grades: Statements (30 Jul 2020)

Mattie McGrath: The Minister may give a brief response and then we will move on to Deputy Danny Healy-Rae.

Opening of Schools and Calculated Grades: Statements (30 Jul 2020)

Mattie McGrath: Tá an t-am críochnaithe. I call Deputy Pringle, and Deputy Barry will be after him.

Opening of Schools and Calculated Grades: Statements (30 Jul 2020)

Mattie McGrath: The Minister can just give a brief reply, as the time has lapsed.

Opening of Schools and Calculated Grades: Statements (30 Jul 2020)

Mattie McGrath: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. Is é an chéad ghrúpa eile ná Solidarity-People Before Profit. An bhfuil an Teachta Barry nó an Teachta Paul Murphy anseo? I move to the Regional Group. Are Deputies Fitzpatrick and Berry sharing?

Opening of Schools and Calculated Grades: Statements (30 Jul 2020)

Mattie McGrath: Okay. I thank the Deputy.

Adjournment of Dáil: Motion (30 Jul 2020)

Mattie McGrath: The self-employed musicians and people at home will not like the cheerleaders tonight. If they had guitars, they could play them. They should be ashamed of themselves. They are like "The Lonesome Boatman" on the fiddle. That is what they are. I too believe that after what happened here tonight, when we gave the vultures more powers, abandoned the self-employed, the pensioners, people...

Gnó na Dála - Business of Dáil (30 Jul 2020)

Mattie McGrath: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I remind the Tánaiste that he is depending on a small party who were in opposition recently to stay in government. He has 11 of that party now - one gone and more to go. That is the way it is now, sadly. We take no lecturing from the Tánaiste about that. There was a convention that worked well in the previous Dáil. We have had 32...