Mattie McGrath has been sharply criticised for comparing COVID-19 restrictions and vaccinations in Ireland to Nazi Germany.
Independent TD Mattie McGrath said Government decisions on indoor dining was "exactly the same" as Germany in the 1930s.
On Twitter, the Auschwitz Memorial account directly responded to the Tipperary TD - saying the comments were a "sad symptom of moral and intellectual decline".
They sent Deputy McGrath links to a free online course about the Holocaust.
Instrumentalization of the tragedy of all people who between 1933-45 suffered, were humiliated, tortured & murdered by the hateful totalitarian regime of Nazi Germany to argue against vaccination that saves human lives is a sad symptom of moral and intellectual decline.
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) July 13, 2021
Speaking outside the Dáil earlier, Mattie McGrath defended comparing the current situation in Ireland to Nazi Germany.
He said: "There is huge correlations. It’s exactly the same if you want to study it - restriction of movement, they couldn’t go where they wanted to go…
"I’m comparing what went on in early Germany and what went on… the people in such fear. I am comparing it."
Asked by reporters if he'd been vaccinated himself, he said: "Is that where we've come to now... are we back to 1933 in Germany? We'll be all tagged in the yellow and the mark of the beast will be on us?"
In the Dáil this afternoon, Taoiseach Micheál Martin accused Deputy McGrath of frequently making "ridiculous" and "offensive" comments about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.
The Independent TD, however, said he took particular offence to the Holocaust reference - insisting he "never uttered that word".
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said Deputy McGrath's comments were disgraceful - suggesting "people's memories are being trampled on".
Earlier this year, Deputy McGrath claimed Ireland was returning to ‘Nazi Hitler’s time’ during a heated argument in the Dáil about lockdown restrictions.
