Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

No, it is without any condition. Some sense of proportion on this measure is called for. The 10% of people involved here, some 35,000 persons, who lose access to the full medical card, will have it replaced by a GP-visit card.

I do not believe anybody on this side of the House or in this Chamber relishes making any adjustments to eligibility. I have made that clear as has the Minister for Health in his address to the House on this legislation. Deputy Kelleher and his colleagues around him know more than anyone in this House why these adjustments in eligibility need to be made. He knows better than anybody the economic situation the country has faced as a consequence of the reckless mismanagement of the economy by him and his party colleagues.

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