Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I stated in my first reply that the €50 million will not now be put to use because those voting machines will not be brought into operation. To associate that with costs in the health service is a political point the Deputy wants to make. We have had to consider prescription charges due to the increasing cost of our drugs bill in this country, which has gone from €300 million to almost €1 billion over the past number of years.

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