Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Whereas I could understand - although for reasons that will be clear - I would not agree with the Deputies in their opposition to the Bill and to the sections of it. I am at a complete loss to understand why they would oppose this amendment because it is manifestly a technical amendment which simply makes clearer the definition of a single person. It has no material effect - I invite the Deputies to read it. This amendment was not moved on Committee Stage although it arose from Committee Stage proceedings. It is simply a technical amendment. I am not suggesting that section 2 of the Bill is merely technical. I never stood up to suggest, and nor would I, that what is in the Bill - the change in eligibility - is simply technical. With respect to my colleagues opposite, I cannot for the life of me see how I could be contradicted that this amendment simply sets out in clearer terms a definition of a single person.

The Deputies have not asked me to deal with that matter further so I will not do so but I will comment briefly on the issues that have been raised by them.

Deputy Kelleher called for consistency but he only calls for consistency on this side of the House. He never calls for or observes consistency on his side of the House because if he was doing that there would be a long list of problems he would have to contend with and a long list of decisions the Government of which he was a member made which would render a nonsense his criticism of this Government. For example, we know what the intention of the Fianna Fáil-led Government was in terms of medical cards for those over 70. We know its proposals did not even propose replacement with access to general practitioners without fees for those over 70. It was a blanket move from which it had to pull back and even when it set the eligibility rates, those who were excluded in that decision of the previous Government were not awarded GP cards. I repeat that no one who loses access to the full medical card in these measures, or in last year's measures, will be left without free access to their GP. They will all have an automatic replacement of the full medical card with a GP card.

I agree with colleagues. I have not tried to make light of these proposals. I have never taken a cavalier attitude to the extent that these are minimal changes, that they are meaningless or that they do not affect people. They do affect people, and it is regrettable that these adjustments have to be made but they only affect 10% of the holders of over 70s medical cards. There is a replacement with a GP card, as I mentioned. On Second Stage a Deputy on the opposite side of the House who is not present said that the sole income of approximately 80% of those over 70 was the old age pension. If that is the case, it should be pointed out that the new limit of €500 is over double the State pension. I do not make light of the fact that some people will lose access to the full medical card, which will be replaced by the GP card, but 93% of all over 70s in the State will still be covered for free access to their GP, and something of the order of 85% will maintain and continue to have a full medical card. Following the implementation of this budget measure only 7% of over 70s, those with the highest incomes - the better off over 70s, and I know "better off" is a relative term - will not qualify for either a medical card or a GP card.

Deputy Ó Caoláin raised on Committee Stage the issue of gross income versus net income but as I pointed out on the previous occasion, a person over 70 can still opt to be assessed under the net income system. A person over 70 is not confined to applying under the gross income system but may opt to be assessed under the net income system. They still have that available to them. However, it has been the experience, and it is clear, that huge numbers of over 70s qualify and the gross income assessment seems to suit the circumstances of the vast majority of people who are over 70.

We dealt with the issue of double the cost and the €500 and €900 on Committee Stage where I said that it is the case that living costs for two people living together are not always double the cost of one person living alone, and I gave examples on Committee Stage of other areas of public policy that do the same.

I respectfully disagree with Deputy Ó Caoláin when he says that in respect of the 10% of persons who will lose their full medical card, it is no compensation for them to have a GP-visit card. I cannot accept that. It will come as a considerable relief to many of those people, even if they would prefer to maintain the full cover, and they have access to the drugs payment scheme, which gives considerable comfort also.

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