Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)

As Robert Emmett said, "Let no man write my epitaph for no man knows my motives." These words are pertinent in the case of the Minister for Health and Children. When I was elected to the House, many members of the public sympathised with and pitied the Minister on the job she was trying to do. I am afraid the position has changed and we have turned full circle. Some of the words I have heard used to describe the measure on medical cards include "lousy", "cold", "hard", "unwarranted", "unfair" and "wrong".

The Minister is brow beaten and should be ashamed of what she tried to do to those aged over 70 years. Her biggest slip was to introduce a measure which affects entire families. As she will discover when the ballot boxes are next opened, no one wants his or her grandmother, grandfather, mother and father to be picked on. She cannot blame this cock up on the Health Service Executive, which has served as a good scapegoat on which to blame all her mistakes. The Minister's political epitaph consists of two lines. Now that her party and colleagues have disappeared, it is time for her to follow them.

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