Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The new arrangements provided for in budget 2013 to address Government spending for medical card schemes could be viewed as an important marker for how we distribute scarce resources in a fairer and more equitable fashion. It is clear that a balance must be struck between protecting the most vulnerable members of society while also being mindful that those who can afford to carry more of the costs of their treatment should do so in the fairest way possible. Fairness is the key word when evaluating the changes to qualifying criteria for medical cards for older members of society. The proposed changes in the Bill will have absolutely no effect on the vast majority of older citizens. They will affect only the relatively better off, those who have single income in excess of €31,000 or couples with incomes in excess of €62,000.

There is an ongoing and very necessary debate about what people consider fair and how middle income individuals, those who are at work paying mortgages and educating children, consider they have shouldered the brunt of rebuilding the nation's economy. It is clear that only the most well-off individuals will be affected by the particular set of changes proposed in the legislation. Those over 70 who, by any objective measurement, have the capacity to pay more towards the cost of medical treatment will pay more. This is a position I support. Nine out of ten over 70s will not be affected at all by the change and will still receive a full medical card. Of course, those who fall below the limit, down as far as €600 per week or €1,200 for a couple, will still receive free GP cards, allowing them to visit a doctor as and when required. It is important to note that those few affected by the change will not, as Deputy McGrath and others have pointed out, have to give up their cards immediately as there will be a transitional arrangement in place. Those who qualified up to April 2013 can hold on to their cards until the end of May.

In targeting the scarce resources towards those who arguably need them the most, tough decisions are required. These decisions need to be fair and to be seen to be fair. In many ways the decision in the first place by the Fianna Fáil-led Government to award medical cards to everyone over 70 years of age, regardless of income and resources, epitomised the political and financial culture that pertained and which bankrupted the country. That decision did not make financial sense, and neither did it pass the test of equity. The economic crisis which we are pulling out of was a direct result of a succession of vote-grabbing flourishing of bust cheques from successive Fianna Fáil Governments based on what we now know was an utterly false developer-led boom and nobody should forget that. The adjustments to this scheme, reflected in the Bill, are necessary and they are required to ensure that the money we have available to us goes towards funding schemes of critical importance for those who need the most. I support the legislation.

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