Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is very clear that the policy choices that the Government took last year and in has taken in this year's budget impact far more severely on children, sick people and our older population. Since July, Deputy Kelleher and I have been raising consistently the policy choice that the Government took last year to cull discretionary medical cards on an ongoing basis. Two weeks ago I raised this with the Taoiseach and I asked him to listen to people in this House and elsewhere on the discretionary medical card issue. We gave a range of individual cases where this was happening, but the Taoiseach chose to deny reality and he did not listen. It took Lydia Cleary and many others to come on "Liveline" last week to confirm once and for all what everybody knew, namely, that there was a wholesale withdrawal of discretionary medical cards from very sick children, very sick adults and people aged over 70. It exposed the untruths that were being articulated by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health on the discretionary medical card issue.

Jonathan Irwin of the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation has provided further confirmation of this. A glance at that organisation's Facebook page shares the experience of many parents of children who are cared for by the Jack and Jill Children's Foundation and their experience of the medical card issue, in particular the discretionary medical card.

In addition older people have lost their discretionary medical cards. A 67 year old gentleman at end-stage renal failure lost his medical card. A 70 year old with very complex ongoing medical conditions lost his medical card. There are many more in life-threatening situations. The Taoiseach keeps saying there was no change. However, the 2013 service plan, approved by the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, stated that policy changes would lead to a reduction of approximately 40,000 medical cards as a result of changes to income calculations, including for those over 70.

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