Mattie McGrath: Urgent warning on trade, ports and patient travel
Mattie McGrath spoke on 11 Nov 2020 about negotiations with the UK and the state's preparedness for their consequences, arguing urgent action is needed and that the Good Friday Agreement must be respected. He criticised lack of preparation, raised transport and port capacity concerns including Ross Lear and the N24, and demanded clarity on cross-border patient travel, student certainty, haulage delays and EU funding.
Urgency of negotiations and political context
McGrath said the talks are at a critical stage - "the 59th minute of the 11th hour" - and warned COVID has distracted attention. He recalled a former Taoiseach's assurances on a backstop and argued the British decision to leave should have been accepted long ago, with proper preparations put in place.
Trade, transport and port infrastructure
He highlighted perilous conditions for road haulage, tight delivery schedules and the need for fast port capacity. McGrath pressed for better connectivity - including the N24 route into Limerick and a roll on, roll off port at Ross Lear - and asked whether EU funds for such infrastructure have been sought.
Cross-border healthcare and patient travel
The speaker insisted the Good Friday Agreement must be honoured and raised concerns about patients from Northern Ireland travelling south for care. He thanked local organisers and Kingsbridge staff for running cross-border patient buses and warned that the loss of that "release valve" would be damaging for people requiring treatment.
Students, licences and wider social impacts
McGrath said students studying in England need certainty after disrupted years and raised wider implications for tourism and holders of British driving licences. He also asked for clarity on rights of passage for drivers, the application of any EU directive and the broader consequences for education, haulage and local businesses.
Calls for ministerial clarity
He criticised multiple advisory cohorts and a lack of clear answers from government, and invited the minister to clarify whether funding applications and contingency plans - for ports, patient travel and student arrangements - have been pursued.
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I am glad to be able to speak this evening. I want to assure the Minister that the Rural Independent Group won't be found wanting when it comes to these delicate and sensitive negotiations now, but we are in the 59th minute of the 11th hour, and when I hear all the talk, you had your former Taoiseach, Tana Shekhovny now, telling us about this backstop he had, money he had, reassuring so, and then we kind of fell off the trough completely, and we had COVID taken over completely, and the people in the country have switched off, and I questioned the Taoiseach this morning about the health situation and everything, and it's an RT and himself, and a previous Taoiseach, and we have dosed the people morning, near and night with COVID, and we've forgotten about this most important issue, our nearest, and I nearly said dearest, but they weren't always our dearest, our neighbours, and the trade implications, the implications for education, the implications for their old haulage business, the implications for tourism, the implications for people with British driving licences, multiple implications, the Good Friday Agreement, you know, is an international agreement, and that must be respected, so I don't know what Prime Minister Johnson, he's elected now, and he's making lots of sounds and noises, and the British people obviously voted to go, and we should have accepted that long ago, instead of hoping they wouldn't go, and they might change, and they might do like we did here with Nice, and we did in Lisbon, go back twice, but we didn't, they made the decision, and they stuck with it, we have to live with it, but we haven't done any preparations, and Deputy Murphy, I listened to you today, again today, the MNDO, who are advising the government, this is the problem with this government, and the last government, they have too many cohorts of advisors, and consultants, and if you want to cross the road nearly now, across the lift, you have to get a consultant to do every kind of a study, they have not been told the truth, these people, as has been pointed out, with COVID, it's a whole change situation, and many of the cases haven't been properly examined, and we don't have a proper port, and connectivity, Ross Lear, and that was why I was fighting for the N24, you know, from the west, right down into Limerick, into Shannon, into Limerick, Tiburray Town, and on to Waterford, onto Ross Lear, connectivity is vital, and a fast, quick port, roll on, roll off, for Ross Lear has to be, and there is a fund in the EU, you know, and that's there, and I don't know, are we even looking for it, so the Minister will need to clarify that for us, have we looked for the funding, to deal with this kind of, put in infrastructure, for those daily services, because we need connectivity, the road hauling situation, is in a perilous, perilous situation, anyway, I mean, they seem stopped now, at roadblocks, they seem stuck, they are on a tight schedule, with ticker graphs in the cab, and delivery, and from farm to fork, and from all other export issues, the time is of the essence, they can't afford to be delayed further, and they are very frightened, and anyone's I meet, during international travel, they are very frightened, and the drivers, and will they have a right of passage, and we must really, be serious, about how desperate this is, Minister, I am disappointed, or Minister, I am disappointed, because, you mentioned everything about transport, and transport up, and transport down, you mentioned about patients in Northern Ireland, can come down south, and can go, to other European countries, but you forgot to mention, and the Taoiseach, and Deputy Michael Collins, and Deputy Danny Healy Ray, are asking this day in, day out, with the last, several months, is there going to be, the EU directive, can the people in your constituency, many of them have gone blind, they would go blind, only for Michael Collins' bus, to Belfast, Belfast are blind, is rightly, rightly named, and are they going to be, able to go all the time, and why won't you complain on this, the Taoiseach has been asked, and he just kind of waffles, and tells people that, there are cannabis in a side mask, to bring him up, it's a serious situation, the health service here, is not fit for purpose, we had this release valve, and we need that release valve, and we need it certainly, because people are booked in to go, and I, myself, in Tipperary, and I want to thank, indeed, in Deputy Collins, and Deputy, or Councillor Danny Collins, and Invera, and all the staff in his office, their work they do, collecting patients, at 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning, getting them on their buses, and going up, and they've obliged me, in Tipperary, to bring passengers from Castle, up, as well, and it's a wonderful service, it's a shame or disgrace, we had to do it, but that's going to be cut off now, and I know that many people in the HSC would love to have it cut off, because they are embarrassed by it, that our money, taxpayers' money, is paying to get their operations done in Kingsbridge, and I thank the staff in Kingsbridge for being so helpful, as well, but we need, you've never mentioned that, you're seriously invited, Minister, your script, and I've looked at your script, and it's not in it, so we need those answers, and clarification, but we also need certainty for students, who go to college in England, and vice versa, we need, they have a tough enough time with last year, and now this year, first year in college, they need some certainty there, as well, there are many areas, but we left, I think we're closing the gate, we're closing the gate, a stable gate, when the HSC is bolted, and the President and candidate Joe Biden, made lots of noises and talks, let's see now, if he gets into the White House, will he be as solid as we want him to be, and I hope he will, because we need our friends now, more than ever, and we need to maintain relationships with people in the UK, and across the border as well, and we need to go forward as one, in Ireland, and deal with this together, as an island nation as well, Thank you, Deb. Thank you. Thank you Debbie. Thank you Debbie. Government say that I will begin. Thank you Debbie.
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