Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I oppose the Order of Business as presented by the Tánaiste because it does not provide an opportunity for the House to hear directly from the Minister for Health and Children and to question her on the detail of her proposal. There is a most callous proposition to take from our elderly citizens in their 70s, 80s and older the medical card that they have enjoyed in recent years. It is absolutely inconsistent and inequitable and shows the absolute confusion at the heart of the delivery of the health system in this State. I call on the Government to withdraw this proposition immediately. Will the Minister for Health and Children come to the House today? Will the Government provide an opportunity for a proper and detailed exchange on the outworking of this proposition? Preferably, will the Government announce the decision not to proceed?

If it is the case that the Minister for Health and Children will not facilitate an opportunity for the House to address this very disturbing matter today, I appeal to the Ceann Comhairle, as a facilitator of debate in this House, to allow for a Private Notice Question to be accepted and for all-party participation in order that we may as quickly as possible get to the kernel of what the Government intends, to clear up the confusion between the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Health and Children on the outworking of the proposal in the coming months and, hopefully, that we can impress some sense on them and have this matter withdrawn. Has the Government, in any way, taken into account the administrative nightmare that this measure will land on the desks of the HSE, which is expected to go through the process of review of each individual's entitlement at a time when there is already a curtailment of frontline staff in the provision of personal social services and health care entitlement?

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