Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister spoke about of the delay in the presentation of the national service plan. I ask him to address the other issues I made reference to because they are integral to the entire business of the national service plan. Will the Minister clarify the conflicting situation between the €666 million and the figure of €1 billion cited more frequently at this point in time? Can he also advise if the service plan will show a breakdown of the €113 million designated as so-called savings under the medical card heading over the course of 2014? How will that incredible sum be realised, what steps will be taken to do so and who are the targets who will lose their medical cards as a consequence?

I will conclude with my next point. I encourage the provision in the national service plan of the required funding to allow for the fitting of bilateral cochlear implants to get underway in 2014. I believe all views in this House share a belief in this as a target for the coming year.

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