Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Would the Taoiseach accept that the programme for Government no longer has any credibility? Two of the signatories to the programme for Government, Deputies Bertie Ahern and Trevor Sargent, are no longer the leaders of their respective parties, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party, and the third signatory of the programme, Deputy Mary Harney, does not have a party. Does the Taoiseach accept that much of what is committed in the programme for Government is meaningless at this point, as has been repeatedly demonstrated since the programme was first announced, a programme that was never debated by the House at the time?

Is the Taoiseach aware that the programme commits the Government to extend entitlement to the medical card, not take it away as he has been doing in regard to the over 70s? Is he aware also that the programme commits the Government to indexing the income thresholds for qualification for medical cards to increases in the average industrial wage, doubling the income eligibility for parents of children under six years of age and trebling it for parents of children under 18 years of age with an intellectual disability? In the time since this Government of the 30th Dáil took office last year, have any serious attempts been made to deliver on those critical commitments? Does the Taoiseach accept that a revised programme for Government, reflective of the current position, is required and that honest and realisable expectations should be put before these Houses and the people?

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