Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I do not want to be accused subsequently of not having answered a particular question. This is an important point. The sub-group asked what we should do about eligibility over the next ten years. In its report it noted that according to the Department the terms "eligibility" and "entitlement" are legally distinct. The Health Act 1970 provides for eligibility for a service but not that a person is entitled to receive a service. One is eligible when one qualifies to avail of services without charge or subject to prescribed charges. It continues with references to the Ombudsman's report and so on. Not even the various people on the sub-group on eligibility flagged this issue. No one said something illegal had been happening for 28 years that needed to be corrected and rectified.

This report fed into the health strategy. The same happened in the 1994 health strategy. Deputy Rabbitte tried to wipe all that out with one grand gesture, to forget the past. I am not suggesting that Deputy Howlin knew anything about this, quite the contrary, but one cannot apply two standards. The 1994 strategy stated——

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