Mattie McGrath criticises HSE, calls to restore coursing licences

Go ra maith agud, I'm Count Cawler and I'm delighted that the Minister for Agriculture has arrived and Deputy Minister Roberts is also here. Minister O'Connor, you might answer also as well about the maths, because they're not just doing to farmers and to people who want to sell for an economic interview, but also the physical outlet and the people can go. And obviously we're not available to do it online because many people aren't adapted to that, but we have no broadband in many parts and several maths crashed yesterday and the price of cattle fell to the floor. You might also ask me, Minister, what's going on with the coursing? Licenses were pulled on Tuesday evening for the coursing. The men and women who have trained their animals and they have knitted the hares, nuttered the hares, inoculated the hares and looked after their welfare and looking forward to coursing. Out in the big fields, the plains of Kildare, the Golden Vale in South Tipperary, Newcastle, Not Graffan, Kilcheen Club, all the clubs, you know what I mean, at the other day at Clannmill and indeed clubs in East Cork and East Limerick. A huge part of their culture, their heritage and their dukes really. And it's good for men and beasts and it's good for the children and the adults and to see the floor and fawn and open lands and the hares are protected by the National Parks and Wildlife. So it's a devastating blow to them. Some of them had rounds taken, some of them didn't get the licence this year because of the situation with the rabbits. There's murky business going on in the Department of Agriculture. Certain officials have a vested interest in destroying this industry. And it's a business to many people, remember, there's thousands of jobs in it, there's millions of euro in it. And this must be sorted out. And I appeal to you to allow this to go ahead. It's out in the safe social, it's out in where we should be at Muffin Square, out in the fields. And that's all we can go. We can't go on the roads past five miles. So please, Minister, you're here. In relation to the whole COVID and the Minister for Health and the Department of Health Handling, the test and tracing has been a shambles, proven to be. We see now again today where Dublin City University can cope. This weekend they have a number of tests. I have a young man in Tipperary, a grandson of the late Deputy Michael Ferris, who you knew, I'm sure, can't call that, Shane Ferris. And he's a company in Cork and they're called Cobots. They have robots, I've gone to see them. Robots can do the testing in places like they are doing it in Northern Ireland universities, they're doing it in England. And they can't get an interview with the HSE. This whole thing, they have their arms around at the HSE, they don't want any new people in. And they can do the tests safely, no danger of inspection planning personnel. It's amazing. I couldn't believe that he mentioned this to me until I saw it at his house, in the air in front of his house, how it can be done. They can't get a meeting. We're at this now in seven or eight months, but there's blockage. You talk about procurement. They don't want it. They're preserved now, it's like they're preserved for the wild animals of the HSE. It's their ground. Don't come in here anybody. We don't want you and we can manage this ourselves. But they can manage it. Haven't managed it. Abject failure. And now we have figures that about 70,000 people offered to help for Ireland's call. A minuscule amount of them were taken on. There are three and a half thousand new personnel were told, but yet they have 200 less nurses in the HSE than they had in February. So what's going on? 580, I think, soldiers, 640 retired soldiers offered to Ireland's call. Not one of them was taken in. And yet we have failures and we have lack of responses. An army elite team could be put into that nursing home yesterday in Roscommon. Or in nursing home, Annie Pell says that an outbreak come. But no, the HSE is out of control. Former Taoiseach O'Hearn and former Taoiseach Cowan told me they were expanding the HSE because it couldn't be managed. Instead of that, we're giving them a billion every year on top of a billion. On top of every year at the last seven or eight years. And now we're giving them 3.6 billion more. You can give them 20 billion more. They can't manage. They're not able to manage full stop. So there's something seriously wrong there. As I said, Minister, we have mental health beds and Minister Butlow's gone. I hope she's listening. We don't have a single health bed in Tipperary. And money has been put into St. Michael's now. And they're converting in 2 million actually. But we can't have a mental patient in there. Neighbour of mine enters his own life only at the weekend in Midbury tomorrow. It's so sad. A young man with three young children. And it's happening every day, day in, day out. St. British Hospital in Carragonshire. A wonderful institution. Hospice beds in there. Three of them. Fundraised by the community. But I'm in there. Taken over for Covid. Empty. Lights off in it. And you won't give us back in a limited basis. All those issues are just so sad. And as I said, the carers out there are such pressure and trauma. And they can't get home health now. They're not there. And we can throw money at the problem now, but we can't get them anymore. So as I said, thousands of people have offered to help. They're frustrated. So you've lost the propaganda war. You've lost the faith of the people. And we are supposed to lead the people. But you can't lead them with inept institutions. And NEFET has been mentioned. Yes, certainly, there are professional people in there. But they need to be revamped. What's wrong? The model isn't working right to revamp it. And put in some business people in there. Bring in some mental health specialists in there. And bring in another wide range of people who have different expertise. So, and yes, and Deputy O'Karen said it, it isn't NEFET are leading the country. It's the government. But we have no leadership at the moment. And very meagre and feeble. And spectacularly the change of power, change of the guard. The Taoiseach and the Minister for Health have dropped the ball spectacularly. And that's sad. Because the people answered the call. The community, the community guard, I mentioned them again. Sergeant Maloney here, and the G.A. Clubs. The women's clubs. The different organisations they've got together. Set up health lines. And they do it again if they have to. That's the nature of the Irish people. The male spirit. But no, you've been all confused. And now there's recording legislation. You're depressing the people. And you're leading them into the dark winter. We're going to get old time now this weekend. But it's old time that she got things sorted out. And you show the leadership that people expect. There's old errors always back in the penal days. But they were early leads, Ireland follows. But you need to start leading now. And you need to start showing people hope, a vision, and a roadmap for the future. And listen. Cool it on the media. Turn off RT. Because we don't want to be bombarded all the time with bad news, negative. Put on a few light-hearted shows. And a few comedians or something. Give us a bit of hope. And allow the people to go back to the church to pray for God's sake. I mean, prayer is a solace for all of us. And many of us believe in God anyway. And it's important that you allow people to have that. And don't be threatened to lock up the police if they go out and do a public mass. That happened in the penal times. We have a mass rock where we have mass every year in Newcrestle. Remembering what happened in penal days. We're back. Penal. Two and a half thousand pounds for a police. Or six months in jail if he goes out to say a public mass. Say it online. What could I say it online if the people can't get it and receive it in their homes? If they can't get broadband. I have to have the facilities or the tools of the trade to do that. So a lot of things wrong here. But certainly we need an HSE and a team there that's fit for purpose. Thank you Deputy. Sadly ours is not. Thank you very much.