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

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:noting the:

— continuing dramatic fall in the number of persons granted or retaining discretionary medical cards;

— persistent refusal of the Minister for Health and the Government to recognise the reality of this reduction and the hardship it is causing, despite numerous representations from the public, representative groups and Oireachtas Members;

— last-minute pre-election acknowledgement by the Minister for Health, prompted by a meeting of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party, that a problem exists;

— statement by the Minister that he has asked Fine Gael TDs to give him a list of ‘hard cases’; and

— Minister’s floating of the vague notion of a ‘third tier’ of services; and

calls on the Government to:

— reverse the cuts to discretionary medical cards imposed in the Health Service Executive (HSE) 2014 Service Plan;

— ensure that the HSE treats with due respect, consideration and compassion all applicants for medical cards, taking fully into consideration not only incomes but the burdens imposed by medical conditions, illnesses and disabilities;

— consult with all Oireachtas Members, and not on a selective party political basis, on the effects of the cuts on citizens;

— extend free general practitioner (GP) care to all on a programmed, timetabled and transparent basis and in such a manner that, at the least, no one entitled to a full medical card under the current rules will lose any of the services provided under the card in the context of a free-GP-care-for-all system; and

— clearly set out in legislation entitlements to healthcare and, in line with the recommendation of the Constitutional Convention, provide for an amendment to the Constitution to recognise the right to healthcare.

I wish to share time with Deputies Ellis, Colreavy and O'Brien.

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