Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The chief executive officer of Down Syndrome Ireland says that half of children with Down's syndrome have either been affected by this cull of discretionary medical cards or have lost them.

The specialist nurses of the Jack and Jill Foundation wrote to the Minister for Health. They care for children with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions who need 24 hour care. They say the situation has become particularly vicious over the past two years. It is critical. It is only a matter of time before somebody, most likely a stressed-out parent, is pushed over the edge by this unjust system. They see the danger signs: parents worn out, reduced to tears, not sleeping, not coping and worried out of their minds about their child’s medical card. We have all met such parents.

Will the Taoiseach for God’s sake intervene in this scandal which has been going on for the past two years? It is utterly shameful. Most people we meet, irrespective of whether they have medical cards, are asking us in the interests of a decent society look after the sickest, those who need medical cards and make them our priority. Will the Taoiseach intervene, reverse engines and transform the situation?

See this speech in context