Mattie McGrath
Tipperary South · Independent · Ireland
“The loss of the double child benefit payment and other cost-of-living supports has come at a time when families are facing rising bills across every aspect of daily life. Parents are not just paying for education. They are paying more for food, energy, insurance, childcare and gach rud eile.”
“Parents also face substantial bills simply because they are required to buy specific items from a specific supplier. That is not fair and is not a balanced market either. There is no good reason that generic uniforms or PE clothing cannot be used in most cases.”
“Maidir le hUisce Éireann, cad a dhéanfaimid feasta gan uisce? The situation in south Tipperary has reached crisis point. Since January, the Ardfinnan regional water scheme has experienced 58 water supply interruptions, affecting 11,000 customers, while almost 28,000 homes and businesses were placed on a boil water notice in a single week.…”
“Music education is a perfect example. Some schools provide excellent music programmes and opportunities for students to learn instruments and participate in assemblies. Other schools offer very little.”
“I, too, am glad to be able to speak on this motion today. I compliment Páirtí an Lucht Oibre for introducing it. While we often the cost of education in terms of books, uniforms and transport, the reality for many families is that the financial pressures associated with rearing children have never been greater.”
“They say it would be great to have water to be affected by a hosepipe ban. Uisce Éireann is totally out of control. Two weeks ago, the Tánaiste gave me some hope here that the Government might do something. Uisce Éireann is not acting for anybody.”
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“I have no truck for anyone who does not want to have insurance and does not look after their workers and make sure of their health and safety but bucketloads are being fired at them and a lot of it is nonsensical. An awful lot of it is nonsensical but it is making good jobs for the gang, the new brigade we have going around, such as the fellas from the health and safety office and all these inspectors. Most of them could not drive a machine if you gave them the whole of Ireland and yet they can tell you how to drive and operate it safely. It is pure nonsense. I have spoken in the House about the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, many times. That should be changed to a supporting organisation, especially after the last recession.”
“The administrative complexity highlights ongoing compliance requirements such as monitoring employee eligibility, managing opt-outs and non-enrolments, and updating payroll systems. Who is going to do that in a small business? Is mo bhean chéile a dhéanann é sin sa ghnó atá againne. The bean chéiles are worn out and tired. We do not have the staff like they do in the Departments, the county councils or wherever to pass the work on to this, that or the other secretary. It is a single man and a woman running a business on their own and they are nearly fatigued with the amount of red tape and a lot of baloney that is coming down on top of them.”
“If we spent €2 million on the bridge the first day, it would have been repaired. I hate saying this but I have said it many times. The night of the flood I was on the bridge or beside it. They closed the bridge for the fear. It is a pity it did not go in the flood that night because we would have had a new bridge long ago. I diverted a small bit there but the cumulative impact of all these grandiose schemes is that you have money for things that you do not need at all. The cost burden on employers will include mandatory contributions starting at 1.5% gross salary, rising to 6% over ten years. SMEs operating on tight margins are going to be crucified and that is the simple fact of it. They are only barely surviving. They are nearly under water as it is, with so many increased costs.”
“They start here and finish there and go nowhere. We can have cycling and walking lanes and we cannot have money to improve low-cost accident schemes and very important life-saving measures. They showed me a cantilevered part of that greenway today. It was in the Minister's own county, I think. I could be wrong. It may be Galway. They were putting in this massive cantilevered walkway costing billions, not millions. They obviously had money for this if they were proposing it. I am sure the architects have got millions already to design it. We have a bridge in Ardfinnan that is closed with a one-way system for the last 12 to 13 years and we have to have more consultants reports, with the money we have spent on it. Now we have a lovely design for a stand-alone footbridge but it is going to cost €7.5 million.”
“I met people today talking about the CPOs. I am sorry for diverging a small bit here but I am sick to the teeth of all these grand active travel schemes and we cannot get a shilling to fix a bridge, maintain a road or take out a bad bend. Engineers in Waterford County Council and Tipperary County Council are telling me this. There is money for active travel, for tomfoolery schemes such as putting cycle lanes along a couple of hundred yards of a road like they have done in my area-----”
“Deputy Healy-Rae alluded to the new paternity leave and the domestic leave now as well. They are all grand; some of them are needed. Some people need them and I am not saying they do not. However, they all have a cumulative, huge impact on the employer and on the employer's ability to stay going and keep the ship afloat. There are insurance costs, electricity costs, oil costs and carbon tax, that cursed thing. Carbon tax is the biggest fake that was ever imposed by this House. We have not been able to debate it for ten years. It is just added every year to the budget as a measure that comes in. Then we find out, when I asked the Taoiseach about the couple of hundred million - €680 million, I think - that it did not go into where it was supposed to go at all. No, it is gone off in a piggy bank for some other nice lucrative schemes.”
“This auto-enrolment is disgraceful, it sounds great but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. We are heading towards Christmas. Hopefully we will have a bit of Christmas pudding and a bit of custard. The pain of this is that, while it might start small, it goes incrementally up every year. The penalties are €50,000 and jail. Every letter that businesses get now from Revenue lists the jail term at the end. That is fine for the rogues and the people who have to deal with CAB and all but not for the ordinary business person who is working hard and managing one employee or five, ten, 15, 20, 30 or 40 employees. Enterprise Ireland, IBEC and other entities will not talk to you unless you have 50 or more employees. That is a lot of money of a Wednesday. Then there is the PRSI and the insurance schemes and all that goes with that.”
“I am all for a fair day's wages for a fair day's work, and we have great employees and a great relationship. I salute them. Without them, my company and Deputy Healy-Rae's company would not function. We have to have fairness and some consideration for the small employers. They are the backbone of the country. I have heard some comments here, and I fully agree with them. The small man has no organisation to represent him. Small businesses have to organise all the work and make sure the money is in the bank to pay. It used to be Friday evening but now it is Wednesday with bank transfers. It is so important in rural Ireland especially and in urban Ireland that small businesses are supported. Ní neart go cur le chéile. Tá aithne ag an Aire ar an seanfhocal sin. It is so important. We are all in this together.”
“I cannot follow that. I do not know if there is any farm relief in Kerry. I know they will not be there to calve the cows. If you had twins in, God help us altogether. I am delighted to be able to speak on this Bill. I have concerns. I have to declare that I am a board member of a business that employs a considerable number of people. There are not enough of us employers in this Chamber. I know the Ceann Comhairle is an employer. Deputy Healy-Rae has been an employer for a long time and I have been one since 1982. There are not enough of us. If there were, this legislation would not be coming through in droves and heaps - involving health and safety and everything else - without a fair and reasonable assessment as to the impact it will have on employers.”
“They are only interested in their póca, their pockets. We should cut the funding they are getting by two-thirds. Ordinary people will want to help asylum seekers, not greedy people who are not nice. The people who own that place in Drogheda are not nice either. A lot of investigation is needed into this. Books will be written about this and there will be huge investigations in years to come and we will have to hang our heads in shame. It is a broken system. The Government is only playing catch-up. I do not think it really wants to fix it.”
“So much force was deployed on communities that were totally non-violent. Anybody who came there trying to create trouble was hunted. It was the same in Roscrea. The way An Garda Síochána was used was shocking. Now we are left in a heap in Roscrea. A section 5 is due for adjudication in the High Court which has gone on and on and deferred. Meanwhile, another section 5 has been submitted. Now the council has referred it to An Coimisiún Pleanála. We know what it is doing. It will facilitate the making of Dundrum House Hotel, leisure resort and golf course into an IPAS centre. That is being facilitated by the Minister and the Government. The nod and wink system is alive and well in big business. A lot of money is being paid to rogue developers who would not be interested in housing people.”
“However, when a person has been ordered to leave, they must leave. Let us take the case of Tipperary. From top to bottom the céad míle fáilte in Tipperary is well known, from the top of Tipperary right down to Rathcabbin. What happened in Roscrea was appalling. It is appalling what is still going on in Dundrum House Hotel . Hearns Hotel in Clonmel and many other buildings were taken over. These were hotels that the economy depended on for tourism. Many local people were working in them. If you say anything you are told to be quiet. What is going on in Dundrum is absolutely shambolic. The Taoiseach was in Clonmel before the election to open the office of then Councillor Michael Murphy. He met Ms Crowe and Ms O'Dwyer who explained to him what is happening. He seemed to listen. Then they were decried and the riot squad was sent in.”
“We have been abused, heckled and shouted down by all sides of this House, called racist and far right and accused of creating division or undermining social cohesion. Yet, here we are now. The Government has caught up with our understanding and concerns. Maybe the spoiled votes in the election had something to do with that. It is a bit late. As I said, it is a road to Damascus situation. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating. We will see by its actions. More than 80% of asylum claims are found to be false. That is not a system under pressure; it is a system being exploited shamefully. What is worse is that many individuals remain in Ireland even after receiving deportation orders. There is no accountability. This is totally unacceptable. I accept that deportation orders have increased.”
“I am pleased to be back after a short absence due to illness. I am delighted to be back. I tried many times to have debates here in the previous Dáil and I was denied. I too want to condemn the attack in Drogheda. Actions like that are totally reprehensible and cannot be condoned. Let me be absolutely clear: Ireland's international protection system is broken. The Tánaiste himself admitted that it is not working. The Taoiseach echoed that sentiment. They have been on some road to Damascus there. My goodness; I never saw anything like it. It is astonishing for those of us who have been calling out the broken system for almost three years now, including Deputy Carol Nolan, me and others, to hear these sentiments by the Government now.”
“It is vital that the nitrates derogation is maintained at the current level. Despite the attacks from the left, the media and the EPA, who will provide our food? Farmers are doing the best. I know the Minister is supportive of them but the Government needs a clear message and a strong message for the Commissioner when she comes here - the Minister said he is meeting her - to ensure we have clarity going forward and that the derogation is maintained.”
“I welcome Fr. Johnny Sweeney from Doon, County Limerick, to the Visitor's Gallery. He celebrated our mass for deceased Members and staff this morning. I also thank the Ceann Comhairle for her co-operation. The Minister replied to another TD about the nitrates directive a few minutes ago. I am talking about the 1,000 farmers he said attended a meeting in Corrin Mart on Monday night. They are very concerned. I am glad the Minister for agriculture, Deputy Heydon, is here. Farmers feel they need to be heard and their concerns to be appreciated. Nearly all of them have invested hugely in making their farms adaptable up to the current limits but they are frustrated now because neither the Government or Europe seems to be giving a clear message as to what scientific levels are needed.”
“The Minister is trying to move them over to Irish Water. There are good workers and excellent county council staff over the country. We could not have better in south Tipperary than the team of people we have. They are being bullied to go into a company in which they no faith. They are ashamed to drive the vans with the names on the side of them. That is what they tell me. They have no intention of going to Irish Water. We will have a worse situation when their expertise, knowledge and capability to fix the mains and look after the network is gone. We are going from bad to worse unless someone takes a hold of this. We will lose jobs and business people. People's health is being damaged, including their mental health, because they have no water and then they have dirty water.”
“Imagine our hospital having to get in tankers. Business are crippled with enough charges and they need a supply of water. They are paying dearly for water in and water out. This is the situation. There is no Minister. He has no responsibility. It is the EPA and the HSE. The HSE is another body that is unfit for purpose. The EPA has set the standards too high. The problem is mechanisation and computerisation of the plants. No physical persons are going out there when we have heavy downpours of rain and cleaning the screens, which they always did. I refer to Mr. Hartigan, the late P.J. Cullinan and Joe Carrigan, who is still with us. Many other people went out and cleaned the sieves and the water went. Now we are waiting for a computer to send a message to somebody who may or may not answer his phone. The workers are fatigued and disgusted.”
“Normally, I welcome investment. They keep telling us there is a lot of investment. There is investment, but normally investment improves the situation. The investment here has done awful damage to the situation. We hear the buzzwords "resilient" and "continuous supply" but it is not resilient. We have had resilient supplies for generations at Poulavanogue - a gravity supply. Now, they must turn around and pump the water back up there. That does not make sense at all. I told the Minister of State we need 220 cu. m per hour and that has been restricted because we moved the 10 in. pipe. They put a 4 in. pipe into a housing estate in County Waterford, Kilmacomma, and they tapped it, which means that it cannot be used any more in an emergency. The hospital was never without water until two weeks ago.”
“That is the case at the moment, and it was also the case in the summer and last year when there was trouble all over the town. We had a water supply in the centre of the town. However, they are going to disconnect that. They tell us they cannot upgrade it to meet the standards. It is sabotage and nothing else. If they are not stopped soon, they will drive away employment and jobs and drive people to insanity.”
“Somebody has to rein it in, make it accountable and not give it copious more billions to put in infrastructure. I welcome the millions that will be provided for infrastructure because we cannot wait for Irish Water. It is unfit for purpose. It is a monstrosity that was created here by the Fine Gael Government and the sooner it is disbanded and taken down, the better. The businesses that are paying a fortune to this company for water are entitled to a service. Households are entitled to have clean drinking water that is reliable and safe, as are the hospitals, doctors' surgeries and other such places. I am in the centre of the town. In my office we have a lovely water supply from Poulavanogue. It has been there for 200 years. They are going to disconnect that even though the supply flows down into the town and never gives trouble.”
“This is a perfect main. It supplies two thirds of the town, including the hospital. For the first time ever, the hospital ran out of water two weeks ago and it had to get in tankers. This is sinful and shameful that Irish Water can do this kind of blackguarding with no recourse to anybody. It has men there who know the system, but it does not want to engage with them. It has transferred one of them to Carrick-On-Suir. He knows the water intimately, but this is the kind of blackguarding. It does not know and does not want to listen, but it is shocking that it can sabotage the main and people then have dirty water and boil water notices for months in the Ardfinnan regional water scheme. They have been on it since early September. The agency now intends to move on to the Galtee's plant, which it is going to wreck as well.”
“main going to the reservoir. They took out the 7 in. main, with a big investment, put in a 9 in. main and increased the water into the reservoir, but they would not listen to anybody and increased the pipes going out. Then what did they do? They sabotaged the 10 in. main, which had been laid about 22 years ago. I remember it well. It could supply so much of the water into the town and now we are depending on the reservoir and the plant. It is under pressure. Every evening it is down, down, down low. It cannot maintain this. I argued this with Irish Water, as did others, prior to it doing this work. The contractors that did it knew it was madness. Imagine that they capped the main going into Kilmacomma, County Waterford. It is a 10 in. PVC main, but other mains have asbestos and suffer from other kinds of poor quality.”
“It has to bring in tankers to have clean water to use for its manufacturing product. The jobs are leaving and going to the northeast - just imagine. This is chronic. There are people in charge who do not have a clue and do not seem care. I meet engineering staff who I talk to, and they understand the water. I meet executives, different executives and more executives. They are bamboozled talking about investments. There are investments going on - we accept that - but there is also damage being done to the water services that have supplied Clonmel for a century and a half. Clonmel, before Irish Water took over and until recently, was using 220 cu. m of water per hour. That was being supplied from Glenary and the reservoir south of the town up on the Comeraghs. That was being supplied by one 10 in. main in around Kilmacomma and one 7 in.”
“Ar an gcéad dul síos, ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil for allowing me to table this Topical Issue today. I declare an interest in that a company I am involved in does some work for Irish Water. No disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, but I am disappointed that the Minister or the Minister of State with responsibility is not here. That is the real problem. There is absolutely zero accountability with Irish Water to us public representatives or, never mind us, to the public who depend on this water. Clonmel town - Deputy Murphy was here and he is as well aware as I am - is a chronic situation. I spoke to a company five minutes ago. They have been onto me every week. Sixty-five jobs are about to leave the town because the company cannot use the water.”
“Will he direct the HPRA, the PSI and the Department of Health to respond substantively and transparently to the evidence submitted? Will he ensure the rights of this whistleblower are protected and no further retaliation or obstruction occurs? There is credible evidence of large-scale harm, cover-up and failure to act. Lives have been lost. We have a constitutional, legal and moral duty to investigate these allegations fully and transparently. I beg the Minister of State to bring this to the Minister and act on this immediately.”
“There was a failure by the Health Products Regulatory Authority, HPRA, and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, PSI, to act on credible evidence regarding the dangers of Covid-19 vaccines, including serious manufacturing and safety issues, and the intentional suppression of informed consent by the HPRA. The authority was informed of cDNA contamination in vaccines but did not investigate. We had a systemic failure of the protected disclosures process itself, including, as I said, ministerial-level stonewalling of urgent safety data, resulting in zero investigations into serious allegations involving avoidable death, medical misconduct and regulatory malpractice. It is no longer credible to delay. Will the Minister of State commit to commissioning an independent public inquiry into the contents of this protected disclosure?”
“As I said, I am disappointed the Minister is not here to take this matter. We do not have a good record in this country of respecting whistleblowers; that goes without saying. The inappropriate and potentially lethal administration of the so-called end-of-life protocols in nursing homes during the first wave of the Covid pandemic may have directly contributed to hundreds, if not thousands, of avoidable deaths. That is a stark figure and it is not my figure. It comes from professionals who are well versed in and understand the situations regarding the pharmaceutical components.”
“This disclosure submitted by a pharmacist and researcher, among other matters, includes strong evidence of the inappropriate and potentially lethal administration of under so-called end-of-life protocols in nursing homes during the first wave of Covid that may have directly contributed to hundreds, if not thousands, of avoidable deaths. The previous speaker was talking about the number of people in nursing homes and the age profile. They are of an age profile and they must be protected but they were not protected and have not been protected. Now that this whistleblower and others have come forward, there needs to be robust and responsible dealing with those whistleblowers, have the matters investigated at the highest level, and have them respected for what they are when they come from professionals, peer reviews and FOI requests.”
“I call on the Ministers for Health and justice and An Taoiseach to confirm whether they have reviewed this particular protected disclosure; commit to an independent statutory investigation into the core issued raised; overhaul the protected disclosure system to include a centralised triage mechanism with timelines and enforcement powers; and ensure health-related whistleblowers are never again left in limbo while their disclosures gather dust in ministerial inboxes or on shelves somewhere. We are facing a moment of truth. A whistleblower has come forward with grave claims supported by evidence and the system must prove it can be trusted to act. If we fail to protect the truth-tellers in our health system, then we fail every citizen who depends on It.”
“Whistleblowers run the risk of their livelihoods, reputations, and sometimes their personal safety to uphold the public interest. Yet, instead of being protected they are often discredited, sidelined, and punished. We must ask ourselves whether our Protected Disclosures Act is fit for purpose when disclosures of this gravity, involving potential loss of life and systemic health failures, are effectively ignored.”
“I am not here to make allegations against named individuals or to prejudge outcomes, but I am here to demand that the processes for handling protected disclosures, especially in the healthcare sector, be urgently and transparently reaffirmed. What this whistleblower and others like him are telling us is that protected disclosures are not being properly assessed, regulators and Ministers are failing in their statutory duty and disclosures supported by data, FOI evidence, and peer-reviewed science are being ignored, misdirected and stonewalled. There is no independent oversight ensuring a disclosure leads to timely, fair investigations, especially when those disclosures involve State policy or powerful institutions. That is an intolerable state of affairs in a functioning democracy.”
“I am very disappointed the Minister for Health is not here. I wish to highlight the vital importance of whistleblowers in our health system, and call for immediate Government action in light of alarming protected disclosures that have been made by a qualified healthcare professional and pharmaceutical researcher regarding health policy, regulatory failures, and Covid-era interventions. This disclosure, made in accordance with the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, raises profoundly serious concerns, which if true, that strike at the heart of patient safety, medical ethics, and public accountability. The issues raised involve alleged misuse of end-of-life protocols, failures in vaccine safety oversight, and potentially criminal levels of regulatory inaction.”
“It is just not good enough. They are fine stations. They are lovely iconic buildings. They are need of some repairs, but they must be kept open and functional. It is pity that we have not done so. I look forward to engaging with the Minister of State. I ask him to come down and visit to see for himself. Bheadh fíorfháilte roimhe chuig Tiobraid Árann theas.”
“I am sure it is the same from Carrick-on-Suir, Clonmel or Tipperary town. People do not know. They ask me how I get a train from Cahir. I reply that I go to the station. They do not believe it. We must praise the staff who are in there. It is a strategic line. It is important to the south-east region. It is so important to Tipperary, Limerick and Waterford. We must invest in that line to make sure there are more trains. There are only a number of services per day. There is one in the morning at Cahir at 8.25 a.m. There is not another one until the evening. There is only one tonight. My daughter has gone home on it today. The 5 p.m. train from Heuston to Cahir is the only one. We need more trains on. We definitely need the leithris ar oscailt. God, we do. It is not fair for people to come off a bus or a train and have no facilities.”
“We need huge investment in the Waterford strategic line through Carrick-on-Suir, Clonmel and Cathair Dún Iascaigh and onto Tipperary town. Again, that station is closed but my daughter does not get on there. There is a train every hour at Limerick Junction. It is a great central service. I salute the drivers, office staff, floor staff and ground staff in Limerick Junction and Thurles. They are exceptional. I got the train yesterday at 3.45 p.m. in Thurles. I was in this Chamber at 6 p.m. after getting the bus from Heuston Station. We are blessed to have that. We need to look after this small line and upgrade it to allow the trains to go faster. Importantly, it should be ar oscailt i gcónaí and people should know about it. Nobody knows the train goes from Cahir. There are very few people I meet. There is absolutely no marketing.”
“I am delighted the Minister of State is here. I compliment him on his appointment and I wish him well. I have been working with him on many issues. I look forward to engaging fully. We have a rail service from Waterford to Limerick. It is wholly inadequate. I get on the train in Cahir and change at Limerick Junction. Cahir train station is not open. People cannot buy a ticket. Níl aon leithreas ann. Is baile an-lárnach agus an-mhór ar fad é Cluain Meala and it is the same way. The station is there, and buses are all stopped there, but the train station is locked. Tá sé dúnta. It is not good enough that people may have had a long journey and want to use the toilets or facilities. It is the same for Carrick-on-Suir. People cannot buy tickets. Passengers have to buy a ticket on the train or at Limerick Junction when they change.”
“We must be seen and heard at these meetings to be standing up for the voice of an independent, neutral country, not in a cosy cartel, trying to be the best boy in the class. We do not need to be the best buachaill in the class gach uair. That is difficult. I look forward to hearing the Minister of State's response to the debate. People in Ireland want more of a balance. They do not want us running headlong into every issue in Europe, trying to be at the front line and the centre of it. We need to have balance and we need to have respect for the electorate here in Ireland.”
“We have to have a balanced and more nuanced view. We have to accept that we are a small island and while we are part of Europe and need to be an equal player, we do not have to be the best boys in the rang gach lá. Some days we can be the buachaill or cailín dána, assert ourselves and assert the hard-fought freedom we have here as an independent State. I also canvassed for accession to Europe in 1973. I am probably showing my age now but a lot of things have changed since then, with Ms Merkel and others. There are huge issues, and I am not even talking about immigration. There are huge issues with migration here. There is funding there to support it but I do not even know how we claim that funding, as a partner in Europe. We are entitled to it to pay towards the costs of migration. We cannot have completely open borders.”
“We have seen many cases like that, where the European Court of Justice gives people a hearing when they do not get a fair hearing at home. As regards the post-European Council and our issues there, we are in a very volatile time. What is going on in Gaza is incomprehensible. Words cannot even describe how people feel but we need to be careful. We need to be an cúramach ar fad. Hopefully, that will end soon. By God, it cannot end soon enough, the slaughter of children and everything else is horrific, but we need not to make too many enemies out there either. Why are other European countries, in spite of the horror they see, being so careful and prudent? Why are they not rushing out? I say this in the context of the clamour here for Senator Black's Bill and all of the emails we get about Gaza. We are the only people making these noises.”
“I do not believe it is and the Irish people will have to have a vote if we want to meddle with the triple lock. It was given as a sop. I am old enough to remember canvassing in favour of Nice I and Nice II. If it was today, I would not be canvassing in favour. Nice II was passed because of concessions, one of which was the triple lock. We need to have our voice heard in Europe and our concerns need to be listened to. More balance is needed, especially from our current Taoiseach and Tánaiste. For them, everything goes. We are top of the class and will do whatever Europe wants. We have seen that with many pieces of legislation as well. I may be straying from the European Council now, but I also recognise the European Court of Justice has given access to justice to people here when they could not get justice in Ireland.”
“I honestly believe that while we are at the table and are an equal member in Europe, on this and many issues over the last number of years, including the Covid so-called pandemic which I do not believe it was, the EU dictated totally. There are huge questions to be asked about the whole situation regarding doctors here in Ireland who have concerns. They are genuine, qualified people - of course they are. There are thousands of people out there who have issues with our ongoing and strong efforts to be at the top of the class in Europe. That is the difference between me and Deputy Lawless. I know we cannot tell people to go and get whatever else - it is not a nice thing to say - but we need to be heard. We need to stall the horses a bit here. We are and have always been a neutral country but the triple lock is now under question.”
“I am delighted to be able to speak in this debate. I wish the Minister of State the very best in his job. He will know my views from previous debates here when he was previously a Minister of State. It was interesting for me when I was sitting in the Chair for the last few minutes to listen to Deputies Lawless and Ward. We have to have a balanced debate. We have people in Ireland who think their voices are not being listened to and who believe the Government is not representing all of us. I am one of those people who wants to be able to ask questions about Europe's role, how it is behaving and about the EU spending on defence. Of course, that is necessary but we must cut our cloth according to measure.”
“Governments are in fear of them, probably in hock to them, and everybody else is as well. Big is wonderful. We will know the cost when all the small producers are gone. They are going. Like snow on a ditch they are disappearing because farming is not viable and they cannot survive. I support the motion and I appeal to the Ministers of State present to ask the regulators to do their jobs.”
“Various moves were made to bring down the price of insurance but to no avail. In the food sector, it is so important for families to have good and proper fresh food. It is important for nutrition, as Deputy Toole said. There is nothing like carrots, potatoes, turnips or cabbage fresh out of the fields, with clay on them. Now they are imported from all over the world. There are concerns at the moment about some fruits being imported from Israel. We should support our farmers but, above all, insist that the regulators employed to do a job, do the job. Last night, I talked about the Custom House. What has gone wrong with us here in this Republic that people are paid handsomely to do a job but they are not doing it? We are all in hock to the big conglomerates.”
“There is a regulator for everything and the vast majority of them are useless, toothless and fruitless. They have their office, their title and the plaque on the wall. They have the fancy office desk and a team of employees paid for by the taxpayers. It is the same with the NGOs, hundreds and hundreds of them. The public, and in this case the farmers, are being milked high and dry, pardon the expression. As I said, the regulators are useless, toothless and fruitless. It is so sad. We have the regulators and they have powers but they are totally ineffective. Governments are feeble and inept at insisting and instructing regulators to do their jobs, to do what hard-earned taxpayers' money is paying for them to do. Across all the areas, they are not doing it. The cost of insurance is again an issue at the moment.”
“The combines have been working since last Thursday in south Tipperary. I visited some of them. It is wonderful to see the harvest. Thanks be to God the weather is so wonderful. However, farmers are being intimidated. They are being killed every which way between the costs of everything for inputs and the price going down. In fairness, cattle, sheep and pigmeat are doing very well this year but that is going to have its own implications. Food security is much threatened going forward. Solar farms are taking over the best of the land in south Tipperary. As regards the regulators, when I came in here 18 years ago we had a limited number of regulators but now they are like mushrooms in a field of a soft wet morning. There are mushrooms everywhere.”
“I compliment the Social Democrats on this very important motion. I do not know whether it will fall on deaf ears but I fear it will, like so many other motions that have gone before. I remember when Deputy Danny Healy-Rae's brother, now Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, and I, along with a small number of IFA activists, worried vegetable and fruit producers, went to some supermarkets here in Dublin. Three trolleys filled up to water level cost less than €12 each. That was unsustainable then and it is more unsustainable now to have food priced at that level. I come from a mixed farm that grew everything. I still grow everything and my brother grows a lot of potatoes. We have every kind of vegetable. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae said it is lovely to see the colour of the corn.”
“Here in the South, we must do something to alleviate the pressure on students. We need them to become doctors and many other professions. It has been a bad week for education. The Minister is here tonight again and I need to bring up the following matter. The Education and Training Boards, ETBs, have been cut drastically. What has been cut? It is apprenticeships and local training initiative, LTI, courses for all the young people who fell off the tracks and are trying to get back on. Why are we making such pernicious attacks on students? I do not know. It is simply not fair in a time of so much so-called wealth and income. Why attack the students? They are the very people we want. They are our future.”
“If we ultimately abolish the fees, it will increase accessibility and participation in higher education, reduce student debt and the financial burden on students and families who are already struggling and provide long-term economic benefits to our young population. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí is my mantra always. The last of my children thankfully finished college a year ago. It is a tough situation and, with the cost of living and increasing prices, it is worse. During the last Government, the Minister, Deputy O’Donovan, set out this criteria. I have some sympathy for Deputy James Lawless and what he is trying to do. By trying to put out an alert he caused more confusion, however, and then there was the over and back. Sinn Féin has student fees in the North of Ireland and there is no talk about that.”