Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am seeking that the Taoiseach set time aside at the earliest possible opportunity for a debate on this very serious issue.

The other reports to which I wish to refer are those compiled by Professor Oonagh Walsh and Judge Yvonne Murphy, respectively, in respect of symphysiotomy. Last July the Taoiseach informed the Dáil that the Walsh report was to be published soon after. In November Judge Murphy was appointed to carry out an examination into the horrific practice of symphysiotomy and her report was to be completed within eight weeks. Neither report has as yet been published. In a letter to me on 15 May the Taoiseach stated that the Minister of Health would submit proposals to the Government in the coming weeks. Has the Minister now done so and when will the Government make the contents of those proposals known to the Dáil?

For months the Government claimed that there was no such thing as discretionary medical cards or that if they did exist, they were not being taken away. It then suspended the review of medical cards and we are now informed that the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, and his Minister of State, Deputy White, were tasked with preparing a plan in respect of this matter. The Government's cuts have given rise to a great deal of distress and there is huge confusion with regard to this matter on the part of the sick, the elderly and the parents of children with difficult medical conditions. There is still no coherent plan. When will the Government produce its proposals in respect of medical cards?

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