Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Senator should talk to the people whose medical cards have been taken from them and to those on the waiting list. He would then review his comments on the health service.

I agree with Senator Mary Moran. It is a shame that people with disabilities and others are being deprived of necessary services, for which they cannot afford to pay. I mention the ludicrous position of the Government, which it has taken for purely propaganda purposes, in providing free GP care for those under six years of age, while removing services from elderly people who are in difficulty in trying to meet the increased costs being imposed on them by the Government, including for health insurance. I cannot understand why members of the Government parties criticise these moves in the House but do not raise them at their parliamentary party meetings. When we were in government, backbench Deputies and Senators constantly raised issues of concern to the public and created quite a fuss at parliamentary party meetings. That is what needs to happen.