Mattie McGrath slams 'hypocrisy' on youth mental health measures
Mattie McGrath criticised the handling of youth mental health services and COVID-era school mask policies in a speech on 26 Jan 2022. He accused authorities and large agencies of hypocrisy, saying funds go to CEOs while frontline services and children are neglected.
Key criticisms
McGrath described services as "scandalous" and accused the system of directing money to big agencies, brass plates, CEOs and chief executives rather than to compassionate frontline care for children and families.
Personal cases raised
He recounted constituent cases, naming Bernadette Hughes and her son who is in prison after "falling through the cracks," and thanked local volunteers and his own staff who deal daily with problems they are not trained to handle.
Allegations about school policies and masks
He argued that forcing children to wear masks in school causes intimidation, bullying and mental health harm, calling the practice a form of victimisation and urging teachers to remove masks on that basis.
Blame and named officials
McGrath blamed specific public figures and the government for what he termed a scandal, naming Paul Reid and Tony Hoonan and accusing officials of perpetrating social isolation and victimisation of children.
Warnings about legacy
He warned the legacy of current policies will be "unimaginable," lamenting a lack of available services despite abundant senior management and funding, and closed by emphasising compassion is missing from the response.
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The hypocrisy that is here tonight is just quite rank. We have Seesaw and Clonmel, Rivershire Orescoe, many other volunteer groups over the country, Joe Leahy and Walsh and many other volunteers in Seesaw. I would thank my own staff in the office who are dealing every day with problems that they are not skilled, nor am I to deal with. I have a lady in town, Mel, Bernadette Hughes, whose son is now in prison. She fell through the cracks, was knocked back and dismissed at every turn. And now her son, who my late brother is a paediatrician, dealt with as a child, is languishing in prison. The services are scandalous, they are not there. The money is going top-heavy, all big agencies, brass plates, CEOs and chief executives. It is not. The compassion is not in it. It is not there to be seen. And can I just say, we are here tonight talking about mental health and youth mental health. And we are forcing children in school to wear masks. And any child is intimidated, bullied and destroyed. And school boards and managers and principals are way outside their order to force this. And the intimidation that is causing, and the mental health problems that is caused. So that is the hypocrisy that is here. And I ask the teacher today to remove them, please. Because they are not proven to be safe in the first place. But to carry on this victimisation of children. What legacy will that leave? We have enough problems with sexual violence and bullying and intimidation online. This is the greatest scandal that has ever been set. We are all talking about post-pandemic. The pandemic has been a total disaster. As regards the intimidation of children, the forcing of them. And the social isolation and intimidation of little boys of age. My own grandchild was in school one day. And, oh, because someone said, oh, her mother is not vaccinated or something. Victimisation. It is a scandal perpetrated by Paul Reid and Tony Hoonan and the government and everybody else. A scandal. And we have the cheating to talk about here tonight. The problem, the legacy of this is going to be unimaginable. Unimaginable. And we have no services available. We have plenty of CEOs and money going wrong. But no compassion. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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