Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes. In order to be fair and honest, the pain must be shared. However, for the past number of budgets this Government has been targeting a cohort that is not the centre of media attention and these individuals are being affected in a dramatic way. I refer in particular to young mothers. The combined cut has a very significant hit on the income of mothers. Giving them free GP care is a bit like an employer refusing to pay his workers and giving them food and butter vouchers instead. It is a regressive approach by this Government for dealing with an obvious need. Ministers have spoken about extending free GP care for children under five. Children who require this care do not suddenly get better on their sixth birthday. An expectation is created which the Government is not in a position to continue with. I have a problem with schemes which are universal in nature. For example, the Minister's children and my children under five years of age have the same benefits as the children of people who are not working, have no income or are in difficult circumstances.

That is not the way to run a modern democracy. I accept the Minister has a plan and a view regarding universal health care through an insurance scheme, but people will pay into that. This is a little carrot being dangled in front of every parent in the State, regardless of means. At the same time the Department of Health and the HSE are eliminating the discretionary medical cards at a rate of approximately 1,100 per month, and the people affected are going in and out of my office the same as everywhere else. It has always been recognised that on occasion the strict guidelines based on means are overly burdensome for some families, and particularly those with exceptional circumstances or where the medical need is of such an acute or critical nature that there must be some discretion. That is sensible, but introducing a universal scheme of free access to GPs is nearly going back to 1977, when the party of which I am a member gave everybody free tax on their cars. It is well recognised by all sides that it was daft act, but this Government has done something similar when it is heading into local elections.

There is an interesting approach to transport. In the Estimates there is mention of a reduction of something like €45 million in the roads budget. For example, funds will be set aside for surface dressing, road maintenance and the continuation of some public-private partnership projects. On the other hand, there is a spare €200 million in capital expenditure that comes as a result of the privatisation of the national lottery. Hey presto, that is to be the goody bag, and the Government can target the electorate by constituency, with money for roads or the sports capital programme. The sale of the national lottery will effectively end the source of funding for the next 20 years for sports capital programmes. The licence was dealt with over three to five years but it was not disposed of. The Government has disposed of it now and got a chunk of cash.

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