Tipperary TD, Mattie McGrath has said that Dr Tony Holohan told him “we are dealing with a pandemic, we will do the lockdown and do the science later,” when he challenged the Chief Medical Officer on the science behind the continued closure of churches in the lockdown.
Deputy McGrath said that there had been “no science and no debate”.
Mattie McGrath on the chilling effect of silencing dissenting voices on covid in Ireland, and the fact that the bill to extend emergency powers was introduced through the Seanad this week to avoid it being subjected to pre-legislative scrutiny. #Covid19Ireland #EnoughisEnough pic.twitter.com/d82ohrYle7
— JRD (@JRD0000) May 26, 2021
“In the last meeting I had with Dr. Holohan in the Taoiseach’s office in Government Buildings, I asked him about the science behind churches being closed. I was very concerned about what had happened to Fr. PJ Hughes, Protestant clergymen and many others but he would not answer me. The third time I asked, the Taoiseach asked him to respond to me. The Minister was there as well,” said the Tipperary TD.
“He said ‘Deputy McGrath, we are dealing with a pandemic, we will do the lockdown and do the science later’,” the Independent TD told the Dáil.
“What arrogance shown to a public representative or anybody else. He spoke about doing the science later but there has been no science. It has been a con job from the start. There was no science and he would not listen to any debate,” he said.
“We approved the powers initially but when we saw they were not necessary, we opened our eyes and asked questions. Anybody who spoke out, whether doctors, consultants or whoever else, was banished, sacked or unceremoniously dismissed. These were the best of people. Dr. Tony Holohan has been challenged by groups of doctors to have a debate but has refused point-blank to meet them.”
He also slammed the media for what he saw as their lack of scrutiny.
“RTÉ and the mainstream media were bought out. They are €5 million better off now than they were when this started. All of the local radio stations, including in my area, got massive money. Not having a contrarian view is very dangerous for democracy. Without proper discourse and debate,we have nothing. I am glad, therefore, that more Opposition Deputies have joined us and will vote against these measures,” he said.
Deputy McGrath said that the emergency powers afforded to the government to enforce a lockdown had been introduced through the Seanad to avoid the correct scrutiny.
“As I said, the Minister has known since March that extending the sunset clause would not do, and he kept that information from us. There has been no pre-legislative scrutiny of this Bill,as I said earlier. The Minister introduced it in the Seanad, which is sneaky, because legislation introduced in the Seanad cannot have pre-legislative scrutiny. It is a three-card trick all the time but people are wise to what is going on. None of the four Bills Deputies will vote on this week will have had pre-legislative scrutiny,” he said.
“The guidelines have been illogical and confusing. Here we go again, waiting until Friday night for more announcements. I have publicans, shopkeepers and those who work in hospitality waiting to find out what is going on,” he said.
“The Minister is out to finish small pubs completely. The Government is blackguarding small restaurants and hostelries of different hues. It is shocking confusion. Businesses want clarity about starting up again.I spoke to a good friend of mine, Val O’Gorman, a young businessman who runs Mr Mister in Cahir. I asked him on Thursday how his business was going this week. Business did not start, he said, because people are still not going out. They cannot go anywhere and they have no need to dress up. There is no certainty and there is no real hope.”
Health Minister, Stephen Donnelly told the Seanad that he proposed to amend the plan to continue the Covid-19 powers after November 9th for rolling three month periods allowed by a simple resolution of the Dáil.
He said that after the November extension, another bill should be introduced if the government wanted to roll over the emergency measures until February 2022 amd beyond.
He acknowledged the emergency powers were “draconian” and said “they don’t sit well with me and they shouldn’t sit well in any healthy democracy.”