Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Some of that will be used tomorrow. I am glad to have the opportunity to speak to this important legislation. It is particularly distressing for any Minister to have to introduce cuts in health services for older people, and any cut is always felt by this vulnerable group, which is more prone to illness. That is understandable. The Minister and his Minister of State, Deputy White, are clearly very conscious of that. Nevertheless, it should not go unnoticed that the number of medical card holders expected at the end of this year will be 1.9 million, as opposed to the current number of 1.8 million.

I have listened with interest to the heart-wrenching allegations of hardship from the Opposition all evening but I do not understand the comments. This is a corrective measure within the system to try to make the budget meet requirements that will be greater than they were in the year gone by: it is about being able to pay for services until the end of the year. The expected number of GP visit cards being used at the end of 2013 will be 265,000, as opposed to the current figure of 130,000.

I am not sure where the outrageous indignation that has been expressed by some parts of the Opposition in the past hour or so has come from. We are all aware of how difficult it is for people to function now. This Minister of State and others must be watching with incredulity nevertheless. In the past two years, the total cost of motions proposed in this House by the Opposition would have had a total cost of between €12 billion and €15 billion. That would be on top of the current budget deficit of between €12 billion and €15 billion. The grandiose proposals, which appeal to the hearts and minds of the people, would only double our current budget deficit. Nevertheless, it was never mentioned in the House that those actions would create more hardship for the people, including those who currently have medical cards but who would lose them if we continued on that way.

There was a time when the Opposition would be asked what to do but that seems to have gone by the wayside and nobody seems to ask that question now. Those opposite only seek more spending, and not one person from the Opposition has put forward a single proposal to raise revenue. They are only appealing to the public and arguing that everything is all right because we can get more money from banks or another group of individuals. They want to pour more money on so-called troubled waters. It is about time to be honest with the people of this country and we must tell them how it is. When those opposite were in power there was a promise to extend medical cards to everybody over 70. That promise was made just before an election, and such statements served their purpose.

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