Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Chairman has articulated a possible explanation. All of the points she has made have nothing whatsoever to do with the Bill because they are arguments around it. They are assumptions people are making that have nothing to do with the Bill which is about meeting certain criteria. Does it state anywhere that, when deciding whether somebody is eligible or meets the criteria, budgetary considerations should come into play? It does not. Therefore, the argument is totally irrelevant. It is implied in the statement of the Chairman and, sadly, that of Deputy Ray Butler that general practitioners are writing letters based not on their best medical opinion but on the basis of pressure being exerted on them. First, we have no right to assume and certainly no right to adjudicate on whether a point is in order or out of order. If the implication is true, it is an absolute scandal.