Mattie McGrath: Opposes Extension of Emergency Powers

I'm all good, last round caller, yes I'm here today, apologies for missing some of the debate, I was the Business Committee meeting, but I am totally opposed, while I was in favour of the Sunset Clause, I'm glad we had the Sunset Clause, because we have a chance to debate it, albeit with hugely limited times, I've come to the Business Committee where we have objected strenuously, you know, to this debate being rushed through today, the 9th November is the date, and the Government knew all the time, since they were put in in March, that it would be the 9th November, so I'm sick and tired of this Government, last night again, since we come in, no pre-legal scrutiny on most issues, and it's all because of a rush, of a deadline, of a panic, there shouldn't be a panic, we knew since we put these extraordinary powers in place back in March, that they were coming up for Sunset Clause, and remember, the Government didn't want the Sunset Clause either, so they were in a very dangerous place here, and I'm very concerned about it, and I'm concerned, and I'll be opposing this extension, because, for that reason, because people are being, you know, we have the World Health Organisation, and Dr David Nabarro has said more than once, and he's in paper and video and everything else, and others in the WHO, that lockdowns haven't worked, and the impact, regressively and harshly, on the poor people, ordinary citizens, and we also know ourselves now, that some big businesses have mushroomed, actually, an effect here, in our own country, during the lockdown, the big businesses have, you know, expanded, and we see, and the ordinary people are meant to suffer, the loneliness, and the sense of fear, and fright, and the changes to regulations, and they wouldn't announce 25 minutes, and the other day, when Deputy Cattle announced on my radio, that the 10 limit of a funeral has gone to 25, because he phoned the Taoiseach, and I welcome that as well, because it's awful that our churches, our water places are locked up completely, in South Korea, and Saudi Arabia, and here in Ireland, that people can't go to church services, and of any, of any domination, and I really think that people are, have grown tired, and I'm worried about them, and the, the, the, the, the supports that will be there for this lockdown, I support, and the community efforts that they've made, and again, I want to repeat, back to my own, in Tipperary's, Sergeant Ray Maloney, and the Superintendent, Whelan, and the team there, and they're starting again from today, out visiting, and supporting the community, which is what the community needs, and the Gardaí needs, no police force in the world, can govern without the support of the people, and they need that badly, and they have the support there, thankfully, and they've done great work, but these powers, and we know that the Chief, that, as the, as I said, the Chief Constable, because of where he's originated from, our Commissioner, has said, that what's happened in England, hasn't been good, so why are we blindly following, with two and a half thousand euro fines, with six months in prison, we already know that the prisons are full, and they have to release some of them, the COVID started to make space in there, and that, and the criminals are going to, but ordinary people, where are our unalienable rights, in the Constitution, where's our right to assemble, all in our Constitution, we're just trotting over it here, and we're trotting it over it very dangerously, in my opinion, so I am certainly not in favour of extending these, and we're all in this together, we were told, but we're fine with not, the moratorium, as other speakers have said, and the mortgages, and banks for businesses, we'll, let that slip, we matched in Washington, into the banks, to meet the banks, that they bought into government, which or whether, and they come out, with a slap in the wrist, moratorium is gone, but now you'll be able to do it case by case basis, evictions have taken place, up to three or four hundred, and businessmen have been brought through the high courts, and the forecourts, and I know some of them, all through the lockdown, so, so the banks, and the vulture funds, we're making a pathway for them, just to carry on their murky, dirty, filthy business, and perish, and terrorise our ordinary citizens, in householders, in homeowners, in ordinary people, and in any people, and there are many small business people, who have banks, their houses are collateral, whether this is a van they have, or whether this is a machine they have, the musicians, the whole lot of them, many of them are dreading of losing their house, because they're getting nothing, only pressure, and arrogance, and contempt, from the lending institutions, but we give that a nod and a wink, we saw what happened in the Galby, 10 years ago, we see what happened in the Galby, Golfgate, and we see what's happened, no disrespect to the youth in Galby, and that just happened to happen in Galby, let's go here, look, but it is just sickening, and we're allowing the vulture funds, and the banks, and we're making way for them, and we see what's going on in the courts, too, and the charade going on there, as well, so look, I think people are going tired of this, they wanted to, and they did the Herculean effort, to fight the virus, and we must, but not by regression, not by these over, you know, demanding powers, and the fact that, and I want the Minister to clarify, but the Minister of Justice is not here, obviously, to clarify whether the Galby will have the power to go into your home, my understanding is they can't, if you don't want them, unless they have a bench warrant, so this is very, very, or such warrant, this is very, very serious, Las Cancola, and we in the rural independence will be opposing it, 100%. Goeibh maith, goeith láskian coorle. Firstly, can I thank all the deputies that have attended today, and thank you for your valuable contributions. We are facing a very difficult period with introduction of Level 5 restrictions as of today, and the worsening epidemiological across the country. In the past week alone, over 8,000 cases have been confirmed in Ireland, and the national incidence rate now sits at 262 per 100,000. The government has implemented a suite of measures to address the deteriorating situation, including the introduction of Level 5 restrictions nationwide, and the continuation of the measures in this Act, and the Health Act 2020. These measures are aimed at limiting the spread and damage of COVID, and the government's key priorities of supporting and maintaining health and social care services, keeping education and child care services open, and protecting the most vulnerable members of our community. In response to Deputy Kelly, Deputy Shortall and Deputy Ward, I want to thank you for your constructive contributions. I just want to apologise, because my understanding was the day it was set out in the draft resolution, but you don't seem to be aware of that, so I'll check that out, but I'll update you as to it. So the government has chosen to align the new date for the sunset clause of the 9th of June 2021, to align with the government's medium-term strategy COVID resilience and recovery 2020-2021 plan. The date allows our mental health services to plan appropriately for the medium-term. I would like to note that the temporary measures may be ended earlier by ministerial order, and that's something I checked out yesterday, should the public health situation improve to such a point that the measures are no longer needed. So just to reiterate that, so the 9th of June 2021, however, the temporary measures may be ended earlier by ministerial order, should the public health situation improve to such a point that the measures were no longer needed. These emergency measures will be subject to ongoing review and will be repeated, sorry, will be repealed if the circumstances allow. Deputy Kelly, you asked a question in relation to whether there were psychiatrists. So independent consultant psychiatrists have been examining the patients remotely. The Mental Health Commission examines all patient records and all reviews of involuntary detentions. Also to say the Mental Health Commission have been monitoring the implementation of the new measures. While the current situation is not ideal, it has ensured that the rights of patients are upheld and that every patient has received his or her hearing. And I have to say they haven't flagged anything to us in relation to any issues. The Mental Health Commission are keeping records of all tribunals and all records related to patients, examinations and detentions. As of this week, as you said, Deputy Kelly, no one-person tribunals have been required. And just to reiterate, they have been conducted by independent consultant psychiatrists. So hopefully that might allay your fears and that you would be able to support it. I would appreciate it if you could. And just to touch about Mental Health more widely, the outbreak of COVID-19 has been a source of significant stress, anxiety, worry and fear for many people. This arises from the disease itself as well as from impacts such as increased social isolation, disruption to daily life and uncertainty about employment and financial security. The government recognises this and has put in place funding for revised mental health promotion and well-being campaign, funding for online supports and the recently launched national crisis text line 50808. These measures complement rather than replace the face-to-face services. The government has further increased funding to the HSE mental health services by an additional £50 million for 2021, bringing the total to £1.076 billion. The funding will help to implement our new mental health policy, sharing the vision which sets out the roadmap for mental health care at all levels over the next 10 years. And currently what we're looking at, a leaflet has gone into all secondary schools this week just to, I suppose, signpost areas where that particular age group can get support. There's 12 different organisations offering support. That leaflet is also available online in relation to third level students who are not currently on campus, but the leaflet has gone into 4,000 schools. Also, we're currently looking at a new ad campaign, especially for the older, more vulnerable people who mightn't have access to internet, who mightn't have access to, you know, a smartphone. And we're just going to really hammer home the number they can contact if they want to take up the phone and ring, and especially going to run that out in local radio stations where there's huge listenership in, you know, in the morning times. Currently, we're looking at counselling options as well, and my mind, the organisation currently has capacity to provide counselling up to December, and they provide counselling in 15 different languages, which is really important, you know. So, we're doing a lot of work currently to make sure that the supports are there. So, Gauraf Máha, Goedlas, Kincáirla, and I hope that you might be able to support now that I have given more clarity in relation to the issue. Thank you.