Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The former Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, has every right to be annoyed at being presented as the scapegoat for a health sector which is engulfed in crisis at every level. The policies he implemented, against which there has rightly been a growing public backlash, were Government policies, not his alone, although he must also bear significant responsibility for them.

When the campaign to remove medical cards was cranked up, it was on the orders of the Government, particularly the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin.

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