Mattie McGrath challenges Covid-19 figures and restrictions

I too want to register my disappointment and my complete annoyance that the Minister has fed the Chamber again. You know yourself from being a member of the smaller group and second-to-last groups. It's very annoying, but the Minister has always run away. This is a serious issue up and down in the country. No disrespect to you, Minister Fein, but he just disappeared and he's in a good habit of that. Look, this is a hugely annoying situation, a frustrating situation, and above all, our people need hope. Hope, and I want to compliment Deputy from Dublin, John Le Harp, earlier on his powerful speech. People need hope. And the demonising of the students this week in Galway, and the demonising of all people, and the fear that's been peddled and portrayed out there, and our team on noonnight. I'd love to know what costs for advertising, and what costs for advertising to all the local radios are getting here. And I would be asking questions about that. I think it's shocking. Shocking. And we want people frightened, wearing masks, and scouring in corners, and afraid to move. It's shocking. It's the wrong way to deal with it. Have we looked at European best practices or issues that work in Europe? And I think you'll see it from the OECD data. Denmark, with a population of 5.8 million, had 27,464 cases, about 33% less than Ireland. Hungary, with a population of 9.7 million, or twice that of Ireland, had 26,461 cases, about 67% less than Ireland, with deaths of 765, about 80% less than Ireland. Finland, with a population of 5.5 million, had 9,892 cases, over 50% less than Ireland, with deaths of 345, a staggering 80% less than Ireland. Now, there's something wrong here, and is it, we are manipulating the figures, and I have evidence of this, that figures have been, people have been touching me, where their loved ones died, and they were put down as Covid, and they had tests, and they were clear. So we need to get honest here, and live with the people, and the people of Ireland, came up, and the mental spirit, and everything they were asked to, all the GA clubs, the community developers, everybody, all different groups, right across the Gardasí corner, the community policing, and I want to salute them again, in Caire, and Clannamill, and all of Tipperary. They did really, and this is, but the mind game's been played with the people now, and people are getting fed up with, and are fed up with it, and it's not good enough. As I said, before we start clapping ourselves in the back, for a job well done, we need to have a look at the national, have a national debate, on why Ireland has so much higher Covid-19 case rates, than three countries, for example, as I mentioned. Additionally, and perhaps more alarmingly, it is dramatically higher death rates than Ireland, but we have an Ireland that they have. What can we learn from these comments, Minister, and I hope you're listening, and Minister Harris are listening. Has the government been in touch, with these respective countries, to find out, how we can improve? Are we just cocooning here, and we know best, and we do ourselves? We have a bad history in the HSE. Dr. Houlan, who's coming back, and I hope his wife as well, has a bad history in the HSE, with the cervical smear deaths, and the death census perpetrated on women. We have a great history in a plethora of issues, and we're going to waste up the children in hospital, and the scandals that are there, and the scandals I can give to you, that went on here. We need to discuss and scrutinise these numbers. We cannot have a situation where anyone who speaks out, or questions the system, has been shut up, or been sacked from the scene of physicians, and that's what's happening. One such individual who spoke out recently was Dr. Martin Feely, the former clinical director of the Dublin Midland Hospital Group. He called for a debate, and raised some concerns at the imposition of restrictions, or the approach being taken several weeks ago. What happened to him? He was fired, almost instantly. Well, we know that he was sacked, and it's not good enough. We have to ask why. What kind of suppression are we trying to get here? Is it going to be a complete communist state? Because that's the way it's heading. And with sections of the community, the elderly, the publicans, the over-65s, they didn't get a penny in any payment to over-66s, they've got nothing. If they were business people, or bus drivers, or whatever they were, look at our only source of help in here, and this is the arts, and the creativity, and the music industry. They have been black-hearted beyond all, and they're not getting a shilling. Now the banks, the moratorium is lifted from the banks, the bank breaks, and they can mercilessly take their houses, take their vans, take their equipment. That's what's going to happen. So there's something sinister going on here, and something rotten in the state of Ireland. Dr Martin Feely has spoken out since an RT1 primetime program this week, and he called that we need a full debate on the ongoing strategy and restrictions. I support him in this call, because I believe in democracy, including the free speech. We're suppressing that too. And I want to quote him, and the cost to the community, financially and socially, is enormous, as we know. And one of the difficulties with this is we cannot measure those costs. We cannot, the International Mental Health Day today, or Suicide Awareness Day. No, no idea. And why, I want to ask Minister, I want you to write this down, please. I want answers. Are the figures for self-harm and suicide stopped being collated? And what a specific answer to that, please. You might take interest and take notes. You've been asked here before, and I didn't get an answer. But I can tell you, according to Dr Feely again, that most people are depressed. Most people are in the country, and the country is depressed. And I'm suggesting this is why I'm asking, really, that an accordion would like a debate on this. We have no debate. No discourse here. We have no engagement as part of leaders' groups. It's stopped. It's stopped. The cost of this damage to our children, to our youth, for our mental health people, for everything else, is just enormous. And we have to have a meaningful debate and answer to questions. It's not a Minister who flows out, especially when I'm coming in. Because I will ask the questions, without fear or favour. Sorry, you can come in when I'm finished. What figures are you supposed to be? The figures. So, listen. Of which of mental health are on COVID? The mental health, sorry, self-harm and mental health figures. They've stopped being collated since about April, as far as I understand. I want you to refute that and give me the figures. And why are they? Because it's an enormous impact. The mental was made by other deputies about people waiting for cancer smear, bowel screening, indeed, prostate cancer. It's all stacking up. People are dying. People are dying from, and the figures were given to the other people that are dying from all the other ailments. One every hour from cancer. 27 a day from stroke and heart disease. And no talk about it, and some of these have been put down as COVID, so the figures, and why, the last question, I want to ask you as well, Minister, one day, one day, the figures were corrected from about 1700 down to 500 minus, they were corrected by the HSE. That was the day that Minister, the Taoiseach Radka was after being out, Sonny, who was having to pass the day before. That has never been, the figures are back up again, and the figures are not true, that have been penned on RT and everything else, and they should be corrected. White pepper tape untruths and lies to spread the fear.