Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

It is very difficult these days for an Independent Deputy to get speaking time.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill and on section 3 in particular. This is a sad day for Ireland and a particularly sad day for our senior citizens. I will be voting against the legislation. It was not an easy decision but this is one of the issues on which I had a falling out with the Government and why I withdrew my support for the Government. It is one of three issues that are very important to me, the other two being class sizes and the cervical cancer vaccine. I wish to put this on the record of the House. It was a difficult decision and at times it has led to my being isolated and marginalised within the Dáil, particularly with regard to speaking time, Private Members' time and membership of committees. However, as far as I am concerned, it was the right thing to do because we all have a duty to stand up for our senior citizens and for those aged over 70 years, regardless of their income. It is also an opportunity for us to stand up for those who believe strongly in a universal health care system. I was first elected to the Dáil in 2002 and for the past six years I have been saying that we have to address the issue of providing adequate funding for the health services, particularly for services for the elderly. Such funding should be provided through taxation. The State has a major problem in this regard and we are going in the wrong direction. The senior citizens and the over 70s have drawn a line in the sand as regards the direction this country is taking with the health services. I commend all the senior citizens who were involved in the protest and all those who contacted our offices. They had a significant impact in further developing the debate on issues such as those dealt with in section 3. I refer to the explanatory memorandum of the Bill:

Section 3 provides for the replacement of section 45(5A) of the Health Act 1970 which provided for automatic entitlement to a medical card for all persons aged 70 years and over who are ordinarily resident in the State, irrespective of their means. Section 3 provides that those people who are 70 or over on 31st December, 2008 and who hold a medical card on age grounds will keep their card, so long as their income from all sources does not exceed specified limits. Those whose income is above the specified limits will have until 2nd March, 2009 to advise the HSE that they no longer qualify. They will keep their full eligibility until then.

I welcome this period of space for the senior citizens; it is important to allow time to debate these issues and examine the broader complications and implications of this legislation. I remind the House that I will be voting against the Bill. The vote is an opportunity for all Deputies to indicate exactly where they stand regarding the health services.

I acknowledge that the Minister for Health and Children has done some excellent work in the delivery of services and that she has been very supportive of me in the past two years, particularly with regard to cystic fibrosis. I thank her for the €2.5 million extra funding going into Beaumont Hospital and also for the development of the national centre in St. Vincent's Hospital. If people do good things I will always recognise and value that. I know that many people in this House, including people on the Government benches are very uncomfortable about this decision. For the sake of the small number of people aged over 70, it would be worth doing something right. They also woke up this morning to discover that all of a sudden the Government was able to find €180 million to fund the pig farming industry. I have no problems with that funding because we have an economic crisis and we must provide assistance but I question why the money cannot be found to deal with class sizes, to pay for the cervical cancer vaccination programme or for issues such as medical cards for the over 70s. These are the issues which must be faced. I encourage the Minister to look at the broader issues and not to have a closed mind. I say to the Government that I will be supportive of people who try to resolve the economic crisis but there are certain issues which should never be touched. If the Government is talking about patriotism, it should never hammer the sick, the elderly and the disabled.

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