Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This constitutes a further undermining of the basic principle that people who are sick and who need support from the State will get such support and will do so based on their need and not on their ability to pay. While that is what the Minister keeps saying, he is doing the opposite here by denying the sickest people the ability to access medicines because they now are being charged €2.50 per prescription. Moreover, it is not just me saying this in 2013 because I can quote the Minister saying this in 2008, 2009 and 2010. More importantly, I can quote him saying this while Minister for Health, an office he still holds. What was the change in policy in respect of this particular measure of a prescription fee discouraging people from accessing basic medicine? The Minister stated this was a fool's policy because people would end up in an acute hospital setting because they would be unable to access the basic medicines they need.

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