Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I congratulate Deputy Reilly and Fine Gael on tabling the motion. As he said, it is clear and simple, unlike the Government's proposal to abolish the medical card for the over 70s. I usually agree with much of what the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Barry Andrews, says and I strongly agree with his comment that there was a great deal of confusion among the public. The over 70s are the same as the rest of us. They hear headlines about the removal of the medical card and that is chilling for people whose sole concern is security. That covers everything from being safe in their homes, to food and heat security to accessing the health service when they fall ill and not having to worry about how much it will cost. That is a fundamental issue, which worries everyone.

I saw a film recently which was about total confusion. Towards the end of it, a character asked what people had learned from it. He replied that he hoped we had learned never to do it again. This was followed by the punchline: "If only we knew what we had done." The Government parties still do not understand what they did. They instilled fear in a group of people who felt in their latter years they would be secure and they would not have worries. We hope to feel the same way when we retire. However, in one swoop, the Government removed that security. The issue was their sense of security, not the medical card. A prominent member of the Progressive Democrats once said if one could bottle security, one would be made for life. The Minister for Health and Children should have learned from that person.

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