Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will take up the point raised by my colleague, Deputy O'Brien. When speaking in the Dáil, I have had occasion to wonder why this Parliament seems to have lost more than its economic compass in recent years. The Government parties seem to have lost all decency, humanity, empathy and compassion. While I have no doubt the Minister and Government backbenchers are decent, humane, compassionate people, we must ask what sort of sick society takes medical cards from children with severe disabilities or life-threatening and sometimes terminal illnesses. What sort of sick society will tell the parents of a young child with such disabilities and illnesses that the continuation of the child's medical card depends on the parents jumping through bureaucratic hoops to prove they do not earn too much? Why are we removing discretionary medical cards from children and adults who received them some years ago, whose medical conditions have deteriorated rather than improved and whose disposable incomes are lower than they enjoyed when the cards were originally granted? How have we sunk low enough to penalise sick and vulnerable adults and children to further subsidise the wealthy and powerful in our society?

Have the Minister of State, the Government and the Department so lost touch with humanity and basic societal decency that they do not understand the very great challenges facing these people and their families? Do they not understand that the parents and families of the very ill children and adults devote their very lives and every bit of their energy to trying to ensure the best possible outcome for their loved ones? Do they understand the sleepless hours parents spend nightly wondering and worrying where the Government axe will fall next? Do they understand that those who care for their very ill family members, whether children or adults, are terrified that any small domiciliary care allowance or carer's allowance they receive will be removed from them as ruthlessly and suddenly as their medical cards were?

Access to quality health care should be a right, not a concession to be granted or withheld by any government, Minister or civil servant. People believed the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, when he said, before the general election, that he aimed to end the two-tier health care system and that every Irish person who needed health care would have that need met, and that medical needs, not ability to pay, would be the determining factor. How does that pre-election objective sit with the practice of withdrawing medical cards from the most sick and vulnerable adults and children in our society?

Earlier, I asked what sort of sick society would withdraw medical cards from children with severe disabilities or life-threatening or terminal illnesses. My question was wrongly targeted. I do not believe Irish society is sick but that governance in this country is sick. That confuses me. I believe we live in a democracy. Government spokespersons daily tell us we live in a democracy and that the people are paramount. However the actions, choices and decisions of this Government and its predecessor give the lie to this. Does democracy apply only on polling day? What happens after the elections?

A democratic government should reflect the values, vision and aspirations of the people of the nation. If this is true, and the Irish people were asked the very simple question whether they agree that children and adults with terminal or a life-limiting illnesses should have access to health care and adequate personal support irrespective of means, I know how they would respond. They would say we should do whatever is necessary to support their neighbours in need. They would say we should forget about getting P45s, P60s, PAYE balancing statements, bank statements, evidence of mortgage payments, social welfare searches, etc. They would say that once a person's illness or disability has been credibly confirmed, the State should do all in its power to help and support the person.

However, we saw how this Government and the Minister responded when we first raised the wholesale withdrawal of discretionary medical cards from vulnerable children and adults. For several months the Minister and Government spokesperson were in denial. They said there was no change of policy on eligibility for discretionary medical cards. When the evidence became so overwhelming that denial was no longer credible, the Government changed tack. Now the story runs that medical cards that were granted in previous years should not have been granted in the first place. Apparently, eligibility decision-makers in local offices were too humane, generous and decent in granting these cards and we must have consistency, even if it is based on inhumanity, lack of generosity and indecency in the new, improved, centralised system. Rules are rules, according to the Minister, and everybody must abide by the same rules. The number of children and adults losing discretionary medical cards continues to rise, as does the level of hopelessness and despair for those losing their cards and for their carers.

The latest stunt to get the Government past 23 May is that HSE staff will phone people whose discretionary medical cards have been refused or withdrawn to tell them about all the other wonderful services that might be available to them.

They will have to pay for GP visits and prescribed pharmaceuticals, although they will know about other services for which they have not asked and which will prove to be of little, if any, benefit. That is how I see it.

We have an island of decent, caring people who would choose to help vulnerable children and adults as much as possible but the Government's vision only extends to the end of the financial year. It pays lip service to those most in need of care while it bluffs and blunders through governance, promising everything while delivering nothing. The worst part is that choices could have been made. Such choices were put forward by Sinn Féin in its pre-budget submission last year. Shame on the Government and shame on all of us if we cannot fix this problem.

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