Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

Fianna Fáil kept him for a long time.

After Friday's climbdown, the Taoiseach now claims that only 5% of pensioners will be excluded from having a medical card. There is no basis to that figure. Under these income limits a great many more than 5% will be excluded from the right to a medical card. One only had to look at the news this evening to see this. In the same vein I had calls to my office this afternoon. Teachers, gardaí and nurses who are retired will now find themselves above those limits and excluded from the free medical card. So, too, will many others, including those the Minister likes to refer to as the "high rollers". Very ordinary people will lose out under these limits and there is no basis for the claim of only 5%.

Apart from where income limits are set, far more important for many older people is the removal of the legal right. That issue brought people out on the streets today. Once that right has been removed, the Minister can reduce income limits at the stroke of a pen. If the Government could savagely slash income limits last week, is it not very likely it will do the same next year when the economic situation will probably be even worse?

From an economic perspective, retaining the automatic entitlement to a medical card is a no-brainer. The easier the access to primary care, the healthier people stay, and the less likely they are to need hospital care and expensive treatments. The past seven years have proved that. A medical card provides access to community care services which cannot even be bought in the private sector. Drugs costs are far more expensive under the drugs refund scheme than on the medical card.

It is increasingly difficult to stomach Government Ministers telling older people that it is they who must pay for the mess that the Government has created. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Lenihan, has a cheek to preach to older people about patriotism. He has a cheek to expect people in their retirement to pick up the tab for our economic difficulties while he allows the rich to get away scot free. Contrary to what the Minister claims, it does not have to be like this. The Government had choices to make about how it would balance the budget and rather than protecting the vulnerable, it chose to target them. That choice is morally indefensible, grossly unfair and economically stupid. I support the motion.

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