Mattie McGrath spoke on proposed legislation concerning nursing homes and institutional oversight, arguing the bill is "half-baked" and not fit for purpose. He said the scheme lacks independence from the department and risks repeating past failures such as the Karanewa and Delphine experiences.
Main critique of the bill
McGrath told the Dáil the legislation is insufficiently developed, half-baked and unfit for purpose. He cited recent media reporting on nursing homes, charges and fees and briefings to several attorneys general and cabinets as part of wider failures in how the system has been handled.
Concerns about departmental control and staffing
He argued staff should be independent rather than transferred from existing bodies, noting the TUSLA example where staff moved over from the HSE. McGrath criticised ministerial and departmental oversight as having too many "tentacles", and criticised appointments that compromise independence on boards.
References to past institutional failures and whistleblowers
He described the Karanewa experience as an "unmitigated disaster" and referenced the trauma suffered by people involved with Delphine. McGrath saluted whistleblowers as brave and warned that failures to show humanity and compassion have lasting consequences.
Predicted consequences and public reaction
McGrath warned that the system will crack under public pressure, saying the state cannot keep the lid on these issues indefinitely. He welcomed people in the gallery and said he and others will not rest until the problems are corrected.
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I have the same reservations as expressed by Deputy Function, and the definition of insanity is keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. Did we ever learn from our mistakes? Because the Karanewa experience was a unmitigated disaster. Minister, I don't think you were involved in setting that up, you weren't even here at the time, but it was. I'm sure we should end, but no, we're going back today and we're talking about, and a couple of days, the Mail on Sunday broke the story about the nursing homes and the charges and the fees and several attorneys general and several cabinets and several people differently been briefed and who said what and when and where. But it all boils down to one thing, and Cade wrote more, which is minding the system, protect the system, keep the system intact. Whatever about the people, and I want you to welcome the people in the gallery and someone may be gone. And the horrific things that happened in the mother and baby homes and the delays, and this piece of legislation, I won't say it's rushed because it's not enough talking about it, but it's half-baked and it's not fit for purpose and it should be taken away. But in this area, staff, why wouldn't you have staff that would be independent? You know, the same kind of happened with TUSLA, the staff moved over from the HSE, and can we not go out and get an independent group of staff and expertise that would be coming with a fresh mind and an open mind and deal with it objectively? But no, the department, like Big Brother, have to have their tentacles and their engagement and their overall management, but I've seen it too many times. I saw it one time, I was on the House Council of Social Housing, and I might be strained a bit at Cloncola, and the nomination came up there for a place on the board of Pueblo. And there was an excellent lady and sister from Limerick, and we said, we'd love to get inside Pueblo to see if I was one of us. And so the meeting had to be adjourned in panic, because then he was to get it, and came back after lunch and said, oh no, it had to be an representative of the minister, had to be, should that make it less of any kind of independence or any kind of objectivity? So, I am very disappointed here as well. It's just, it's a matter of, the state did wrong, and want to perpetrate the wrong now forevermore, and keep the lid on it. But the lid is going to be blown straight off it, in many areas across the state, because people, thankfully, are just fed up of it and tired of it, and the system is going to crack. We have whistleblowers in many, many areas, and I salute the vast majority of them, brave people. But look, this isn't going to, it's not fit for purpose. As I said, there's no objectivity, there's no independence from the minister and the department, and we had the, had the awful experience of Canada, and the unfortunate people at Delphine, that had been traumatised, and went into this for the trauma. Where's our humanity, and where's our compassion, and where's our, our, our, our, our self-worth, and the value of people, and self-worth of them, and their wellbeing? We talk about it all the time in different committees, special committees, but mental health, and wellbeing, and, and, and, and, and value in people's lives. And here we are, in kind of, keep them in this capsule, keep them in this, you know, time capsule, and keep them quiet above anything else, and they might go away. They won't go away, they'll not go anywhere, and we won't rest either until this is corrected. Go and rock out.
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