Mattie McGrath: Slams HSE Briefings and Calls Testing 'Fiasco'

I do want to sympathise with all the families and all the people who have lost loved ones in these very precarious and difficult circumstances. But Taoiseach, I'm growing very frustrated and I'm privileged to be one of the leaders of our group who do a lot of briefings and two-hour briefings regularly with the HSE. And they're an absolute waste and an insult to the intelligence of the deputies sitting there and the officials. Because one yesterday evening is a joke. No answers whatsoever. I really want to compliment the Kildare deputy, new deputy for his insight into what's happening with the army. I want to also raise the issue of our 300 peacekeepers who are the most noble of all and the duties that they carry out. And to think that he waited 17 days to reply to a letter to apply for some leniency from the United Nations Directive is simply appalling and quite disgusting. They have families. There's 300 families involved there. Young children. Some of them wanted to make their first communion. Some of them were anxiously waiting to see their dads and their mums come back again to live together and work together and be homemakers together. They've given until six months then. And the uncertainty now created. And to add them to this belief that we don't have any carriers to bring them home. It's shocking. We always praise them like we're praising the nurses now instead of paying them, instead of respecting them. And we too are seeking proper pay and conditions for our soldiers and our army and navy. And indeed, teacher, you are the boss here and in charge of this. And you get answers from me and Deputy Berry on why it took 17 days to apply. So the mandarins in the departments are calling the shots. And I want to challenge you quite quickly on that. And to see an affront to your own statement last night about the nurses and the schools. By our news. And I compliment him and support him so far, Dr Houlan. But he's not the Taoiseach. And we have to look at him every night at 9 o'clock news. And propaganda and the spin. And I challenge RT and the media as well for not asking questions here about what's going on. Others welcome the fact that we're turning to parliamentary democracy here, slowly but surely. But parliamentary democracy as we had it before ever we had this election, before we ever had Covid, was unaccountable. We see the sag of the children's hospital. What's going on there? And we see it now with our nursing homes. A deliberate plan, I put to you Taoiseach, was designed to forget about the nothing homes. And the statements that come out that Deputy Nolan referred to here, that Dr Houlan, how are you sure that businesses didn't bring it in? Who brought in the infection? Because it wasn't the help they were getting from the HSE. What she offered after several weeks was the Sindan Hicra. My God, what a response to a group of dedicated people who are pleading for help. Pleading for help. And begging all of us in our respective constituencies to help them. They had to see, in fact, directed the suppliers of oxygen that they wouldn't supply to a nursing home, that they countermanded for hospitals. That suddenly happened in a war situation. And left a nursing home with a hell of a connect. These people don't matter. But we see what your value of life was when we introduced abortion here on a desperate liberal regime. You can roll your eyes to heaven if you like. The value of life diminished among you. And there are many questions to be asked here about other countries, how we have dealt with Covid. And there are a lot of questions here, and I'm beginning to question. Is it a great con? We have many, many people that are dying every year with influenza. And is there something else more subtle and more serious underneath this whole crisis and this whole pandemic? We have too much power for big business. And this government, last governments and big parties here are mixed up completely with them. And we're not challenging them in any area. Haven't challenged them in any area. We see the meat industry. We're now trying to get loads of cattle, independent farmers exported, live exports. And we got one out. But it didn't suit the moguls in the beef industry. So now the partners are blocking 1,200 cattle leaving this country, who were so badly needed to keep our farmers literally alive off the bread line. So it's been blocked with red tape again. Because big business has ye in their pockets. And keeping in your pockets firmly. And Covid, I think now, has been used and abused. We have a lovely hospital in Carrick and Shoes, St Bridges. Now it's closed. Guy commandeer took it over. Now you're removing furniture out of it. And the people funded, I might add, for hospice beds and everything else here, the people of the town of Carrick and Shoes. So there are numerous questions to be asked. And the glass and the sheen has gone off the spin. And people are asking serious questions. And there are certain very well educated professors and indeed scientists who are challenging these issues. Other countries that are banished. They've been banished from the media here too. So I'm challenging now for honesty, openness, integrity and the truth. And also to ask why we have you making one statement. And Dr. Houlin making a different one a couple of hours later. A pure affront to democracy for Zanko Semda. I recognise his stewardship. But I also have questions that he needs to be asked. And I'm right turning up at briefings of my colleagues to ask numerous questions. And I get no answers. To be told when a woman waits six weeks in my town, in town of Cairn, to be ready for a test. Oh, it's once off. Deputy Pinkham had another one. Oh, it was 21 days once off. The testing is a fiasco. The centres are not working. That we spend so much on. No tests allowed until there, who do test for us, didn't receive a test from the Friday midday of the bank holiday until the following Tuesday. So the Amanda has decided that business as usual, a long bank holiday weekend. We're out of the crisis, you would think. But we need answers here. And we need accountability. And we're certainly not getting a tea-chook. And you above all need to give it. And you're caretaker of Government at the moment. But you need to give it. And you're cobbling up a new Government together to try and get back into power again. But too many questions need to be answered. It's too serious and lives have been lost. Thank you. Deputy Thomas.