David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Onto County Waterford so. I welcome Mr. Watt, Mr. Gloster and all of the witnesses. Before I get into my questions on medical cards, I commend the enhanced community programme and huge work going on in that area. It was from a standing start, built from scratch and what has been delivered is very impressive; I will get to that later. I commend all involved. It is a vital piece in taking pressure away from acute hospitals and delivering the right care in the right place at the right time. Often, when we focus on what is happening in hospitals and emergency departments, the focus is on more hospital beds and capacity, which we need, but the priority should be more investment in community services, which is what Sláintecare committed to.

On medical cards, I read the opening statements from Mr. Watt and Mr. Gloster. Neither of them referenced what was in the budget last year, namely, extending the GP visit card to, I think, 300,000 additional people. I was surprised it was not mentioned in any of the opening statements. I thought they would come in with good news to say this is imminent and will happen because, in that budget, there was a commitment to delivery on 1 June, which has come and gone. The Minister was before the committee during Estimates recently and said a decision was imminent and would come very quickly; it still has not happened. I have not had any word or sign that this is imminent. Will Mr. Watt say when this will happen? Will we see those cards in place for those people, to whom a commitment was given to getting them on 1 June?