Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Last week a journalist from the Mail on Sundaycontacted me. I had raised this as a Topical Issues matter on several occasions some months ago. The journalist asked me if the situation was the same or had deteriorated or improved. I told her what I saw, and what everybody else was saying, that it was getting much more difficult for people to get discretionary medical cards. She asked me if any of the people I was dealing with would talk to her and, to my surprise, when I telephoned six people every one of them was willing to go public. When people will put themselves in the public arena at such a stressful time to show what is going on demonstrates that things have changed.

This morning I raised the issue of a little girl, Moya Nason, who has cerebral palsy and who was featured in the article last Sunday. Moya is one of four children and is the only daughter of Orla and Andy Nason. They do not know what they will do if her medical card is taken away. Like several people, they have an extension until 31 May, and people are worried that once the election is over the extensions will also end. That is what they are saying to me. I know a family with a cardiac baby who has a feeding tube. One parent has had to give up work to care for the baby at home. Although the family is not terribly far above the income threshold, the baby did not qualify for a card. Something is wrong and we must seriously examine it. While I understand what the Minister of State is saying regarding putting services in place, that is in the future. These people are in the here and now and are very concerned about it. While they expected to pay the local property tax, water charges and the universal social charge, they did not expect their vulnerable children to be hit by the Government. It is shameful.

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