Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)

We all have to deal with people who are waiting to have their medical cards processed. We had a system that worked very well when medical cards were processed locally but it has now been centralised. People with long-term illnesses are no longer automatically entitled to a medical card. Instead they are kept waiting. When the clock is ticking and a person's days are numbered, it is dreadful to have to wait while a medical card is processed. It is scandalous.

The Minister presided over a mass exodus from private health insurance, putting unbearable pressure on our public services at a time when they are not able to cater for this additional burden. The Minister has been totally inept in the manner he and his Government colleagues have dealt with the number of staff retiring from the health service. The objective was to save money, but the Minister is saying he will give them a lump sum of money, pay them a pension and then rehire them. I ask him to hire nurses, not agency nurses, to give full-time jobs to our young people who are highly trained and want to work in the system. I also ask him to remove the uncertainty in respect of the fair deal scheme and not to allow a repeat of last year's debacle. He should not hide behind the HSE when asked questions in the House.

On a final positive note, I thank the Minister publicly for his comments last week at a time when parents of children with autism were being subjected to very unkind remarks. I acknowledge that the parents concerned appreciated his intervention to set the record straight and give the facts. As I do not want to be negative all the time, I thank him for doing this.

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