Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Since 2008 we have added an additional 500,000 medical cards. What is going on? If 40% of people in this country require a medical card it is indicative of a very divided society with a poor level of income. How can expenditure for outpatient drugs be comparatively high with respect to Europe? What is Europe saying specifically about how we are spending so much money in health care services compared with the rest of Europe, although we do not seem to have the quality service we advocate.

There are horrendous figures relating to unemployment. We have the highest proportion of people living in households with low work intensity, which equals poverty and, interestingly, usually equals single parent families headed by women. Women are yet again trapped in an unsatisfactory world that is possibly created by our legislation. We have heard about mother and child homes, mothers with five children living in cars while seeking accommodation and others being interviewed about homelessness. We should ask ourselves the fundamental question of where the hell are the men. Where were the men who threw out mothers and their children because of a pregnancy? Where are the fathers of the women who present as homeless? How are miraculous births occurring in everybody's constituency?