Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister went on to mention another mean cut. We talk about getting people back to work, but the Minister said that when a person returns to work he or she will now only be given a GP card instead of retaining the full medical card. That will save the Department of Health and the HSE €11 million. Cutting medical cards for people who should be incentivised to go back to work is counterproductive and is a move in the opposite direction from what the Minister for Finance said about encouraging people back to work. People do not want to lose the value of a medical card, but the Minister is saying today that if they go back to work they will lose it. They will be given a GP card, but the Minister will not be long about taking that from them as well. It is counterproductive. All of the savings in the medical card budget in 2014 will amount to €149 million. People with medical cards had better be aware that this Government is after them.

There has been a 500% increase in prescription charges since this Government took office. The charge started at 50 cent per item and it will be €2.50 from the start of next year. That is a major and substantial increase. Of course, the Taoiseach promised in the election campaign in 2011 to abolish the prescription charge, but not only did it remain at 50 cent when he took office, it was increased to €1.50 last year and will be increased to €2.50 next year. Again, we know who will pay it. It will affect many people and will cost approximately €20 per week for people who rely on that scheme.

There is a figure of €666 million in savings to be achieved by the Department of Health as a result of the budget announced today. In last year's Budget Statement, the Minister said that a further €400 million in savings were to be carried forward by the Department of Health in 2014. When that is added to the €666 million announced today, the total cut in the HSE budget will be over €1 billion in the coming year. It is no wonder the Minister is attacking medical cards. The core budget in the Department of Health will not hold up. It is flawed and inaccurate. It will collapse and we will be back in the House discussing Supplementary Estimates over time.

I will now discuss the Department of Social Protection. The Labour Party leader, Deputy Gilmore, is present and I am sure he will have a particular interest in this area as the deputy leader of his party is the Minister in that Department. This time last year one of the Tánaiste's colleagues said in the Chamber that the one group of people in this country who have come through this crash and still have their incomes intact are pensioners.

That does not hold water 12 months on. A raft of cuts and charges in the past two years commenced with the reduction from 32 to 26 weeks in the fuel allowance. The Government also increased tax on solid fuel and increased tax on savings through deposit interest retention tax, DIRT, which has been repeated today. People will be afraid to put money in the bank when the Government will take 41% of it in DIRT. People will keep money at home, which is not safe. The Government has slashed the home help hours for elderly people and the rising cost of medical insurance has increased due to Government policy. The Government has removed some of the tax relief on it today. I referred to the increase in prescription charges, which cost €20 a month to many people. The Government has changed the income threshold for medical cards for older people, cut the respite care grant in the past 12 months and elderly people must pay a full year's property tax in 2014.

The abolition of the telephone allowance is the third round of measures to hit the living standards of older people. The telephone allowance enables older people to keep in touch by phone with their family and neighbours without it being too expensive. It makes them feel safe and secure in their homes. It is a miserable cut on the older generation who already feel isolated. Has the Minister considered the case of a vulnerable elderly person living alone using a pendant around his or her neck as an alarm to alert a family member in an emergency? The pendent that we see used by our elderly relations is linked to the landline in the house. Cutting the payment for this vital support is an example of how the Government has descended. The Government is cutting the lifeline by which elderly people can contact family members in case of emergency by abolishing the allowance for the telephone.

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