James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

With regard to the last point raised by the Deputy, who manages to work himself up into a great state of indignation, both parties are very concerned about any distress being caused to medical card holders regarding uncertainty about their cards, and both parties were eager to address this. I sought the validation process, as the line Minister, because I am closest to it and understood that there would be real difficulty in achieving the type of saving that was apportioned. Following a validation and examination by the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, with my colleague, Deputy Howlin, we concluded that this would not achieve the types of saving mentioned, so we have approached it from a different point of view. There is no question of victory of one over the other. This Government is here to serve the people. It is not about trying to score points.

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