Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I wish to share time with Deputies Sherlock and Ó Caoláin.

In listening to this debate, in particular to the contributions of the Minister and the three previous speakers, one would imagine that we were introducing for the first time new limits for people aged over 70 years. That is not the case. We are withdrawing the medical card from 20,000 people aged 70 years and over. That is not a small group. Some 20,000 people who have enjoyed the medical card until now will no longer have that luxury. It will be withdrawn on the basis that the Government wants to save money. That is outrageous.

The last contributor stated it was amazing that a younger woman married to an older man would now enjoy a medical card, even though she had not reached the age of 70 years. That was the case before the Bill was introduced and she would not have had to worry about being means-tested when she reached 70 years. It was as if this was a great Bill which was conferring benefits on people they did not already have. However, they already had them, as they were conferred on them by legislation. We are now withdrawing them. It is outrageous to suggest only millionaires will be affected. I do not know if any of us has ever sat in a doctor's surgery next to Tony O'Reilly or Michael Smurfit or their wives. They are probably the only ones who can get doctors to make house calls these days. We are talking about schoolteachers, gardaí, nurses and persons who have paid their contributions and ended up with a pension that is reasonable. We were told by the Government to ensure we had pension cover that would be sufficient to sustain us in our old age. God only knows where these pension funds are now, but that is what we were told to do. I doubt if Michael Smurfit has applied for a medical card. We are talking about civil servants, teachers, doctors, nurses and gardaí.

The luxury of having a medical card was that it provided security. If we could bottle that sense of security, we would never lose our seats. It was about providing security in a person's old age and ensuring the roof would not fall on top of him or her. If a person got sick, he or she would have the luxury of being able to go to the doctor.

The second last contributor told us that we did not live in utopia, that it was only in utopia that people were completely covered in respect of their health needs. That is not true. In most civilised European countries there is a womb to the tomb policy in the health service which is paid for from the public purse and when times get hard, as they have in other countries, vaccines that can save a woman's life are not withdrawn, nor are medical cards from the elderly. Governments all over the world find other methods of making savings and to live up to their responsibilities. However, the Government has decided that the two groups to be hit the hardest are young girls and the elderly.

The Minister has told us we will live longer and that a baby girl born today has the possibility of living to be 100 years old. That might happen if she does not have cervical cancer, but the possibilities of contracting cervical cancer have been greatly increased as the vaccine will not be supplied. It is outrageous that the Government and backbenchers should come into the House——

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