Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not genuinely understand how, when the decision was made to remove medical cards, someone did not have the wit or the social conscience to ask what the likely consequences would be. Will the Taoiseach explain how this Cabinet decision was made? Similar decisions were made to take away allowances from people with disabilities, for example. There is all sorts of confusion about the figures. The Minister spoke about 15,300 people being affected. The Taoiseach spoke about 13,000, while Mr. John Hennessy, director of primary care, quoted a figure of 30,000 and the Minister of State, Deputy White, 50,000. A while back, the figure used to be 80,000. Will everyone who needs a medical card get one?

The restoration of some medical cards has been described as a temporary decision. Will the Taoiseach explain what this means?

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