Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleague, Deputy Billy Kelleher, for bringing forward this motion. We cannot have a situation where seriously ill patients are denied a medical card. It is difficult and tough enough for sick people to cope with their illness while at the same time have to fight, scrap and scrape for a medical card. It is wrong. It is inhumane and above all it is a gross attack on vulnerable people. It also shows the kind of society that some people want in this country.

I got elected three times to the Dáil on a strong health and disability platform and in this debate I am standing by that commitment. Health, disability and education are very important issues to me. I will always fight for a quality health and disability service. In any society these matters have got to be top of the political agenda and, as we all know, they are a matter of life and death.

Focusing on the details, the number of discretionary medical cards fell from 80,524 at the start of 2011 to 63,126 at the end of 2012. In the first seven months of 2013 there was a further reduction of 8,142 such cards to 54,984, a monthly average reduction of 1,163. The HSE set a target for 2013 to reduce the number of discretionary medical cards and this deliberate targeting was approved by the Minister for Health in the 2013 HSE service plan. The targeted reduction of 55,328 in 2013 has been exceeded.

I deplore the decision to deliberately target people in clinical need of such cards. I call on the Government to discontinue the targeting of those with discretionary medical cards and to ensure that no one in clinical need would be denied such cards where it can cause significant financial distress.

I attended a launch by Down Syndrome Ireland, Inclusion Ireland and Irish Autism Action today who were campaigning for people with disabilities. Some 763 children are waiting six months or more for an assessment of need under the Disability Act. Some €325 was cut to the annual respite care grant in 2012. The annual reduction in disability allowance since 2008 is €847. There are 1,900 children awaiting assessment by a primary care occupational therapist and 34,617 people are awaiting speech and language therapy. This is the reality of what is happening under this Government. I challenge the Minister of State and all the Members present in this regard; the reality is that we need to support people who are sick and people with a disability. St Michael's House and Prosper Fingal are crying out for support. I urge the Minister of State to adopt a common sense approach tonight. I urge all my colleagues in this Chamber to support the motion at 9 p.m. and to support in particular those seriously ill people who are looking for a medical card.

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