Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not wish to be confrontational at this hour of the day, but that is so patently not true. The law has not changed. The law has been in existence since 1970. Katie Connolly is five years old, which puts her date of birth in 2008. She was granted the medical card with due regard and in accordance with that legislation. The judgment was that, given the seriousness, complexity and lifetime nature of the child's medical condition, and notwithstanding the parents' income, the child warranted a full medical card. However, she now finds herself with no medical card cover at all. She does not even have a GP-only card. The legislation has not changed, the family and the child have not changed and the only variable in the scenario is policy. With the greatest of respect to Mr. McLoughlin, I do not accept the assertion to the contrary. It would make the committee appear utterly foolish if we were to accept that line. It is not true.

Moving from the particular to the general, if we were minded to do a forensic trawl of the 6,324 cases in which people who had previously enjoyed a discretionary card were found not to be eligible, we would most likely find that the same scenario arises. People with serious illnesses of a long-term nature were granted medical cards under the legislation by the same authorities now find themselves with no medical card cover. I am not asking Mr. McLoughlin to defend this. He does not make the policy calls; the Minister does. However, Mr. McLoughlin should not come before the committee and tell us black is white.

Please do not insult us by doing that. There has clearly been a change in policy because one does not find a change in legislation or in the circumstances of the individuals concerned.