Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

——what the Government is looking for, who will get the medical card, who will get the GP card, who will qualify for the subsidy and who will not have a card. This is causing significant concern to people.

In addition to the concern about the loss of the medical card, there is the information Deputy Jan O'Sullivan brought to the attention of the House last night, namely, that the Government is proposing to change the previous, traditional method by which older people were assessed for a medical card before the medical card scheme was introduced. Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil Ministers are running like frightened foxes from a forest fire and leaving this in the hands of the Minister for Health and Children. The Minister for Finance was at it yesterday. The Minister for Defence on the radio this morning——

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