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

The Minister up until very recently has refused to recognise the problem. I believe he was prompted into doing so by a recent meeting of his parliamentary party. He floated what I can only describe as a vague notion of some kind of "third tier" of services. The Minister of State made no reference to that in his reply, yet that is the core of the question I have posed. I asked that he would elaborate on the third tier concept. Initially, it was thought it was a third tier medical card but that was discounted in an interview in last week's The Sunday Times.

What is this third tier that was referred to by the Minister? Has he any notion of the distress the loss of, or fear of losing, their medical card is causing people? That fear is absolutely huge, as I am sure will be confirmed by canvassing Deputies across the board. Will the Minister of State reverse the cuts that have taken place and restore the essential discretionary medical practice that has applied heretofore as a central feature of the scheme, in recognition of the hardship now being imposed?

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