Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

What are the Taoiseach's intentions regarding the request of the Minister for Health and Children? It is the collective view of the House that the Taoiseach and the Department of Finance should respond positively to the Minister's request. Can the Taoiseach not accept the public cynicism at the continual utterances of Government representatives in the weeks remaining before the local and European elections on 11 June, given all we have heard regarding this and other matters?

Would the Taoiseach not also accept that this matter exposes the absence of coherence in the Government's health policy? We have a significant investment of €400 million in capital projects but we are not prepared to resource them in order to see them open and giving the services for which they were intended.

In response to a question I asked him last week, the Taoiseach indicated that he welcomed the fact that fewer people had medical cards as an indication of a decrease in unemployment. At the same time he went on to say he would like to see more people having medical cards. Can the Taoiseach clarify whether or not he accepts the existence of real suffering, particularly among families with children, and the urgent need to increase the threshold for qualification for medical cards?

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