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

The Taoiseach did not answer my questions. My fundamental point is that there is inconsistency and incoherence at the heart of the decisions he has taken, particularly yesterday’s decision. A child born today with a rare syndrome will be subject to the framework under which 15,000 lost cards which are now being given back. That child will not get a medical card irrespective of the rarity of the syndrome.

In 2013 the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health signed off on the HSE service plan which said there would be policy changes that would bring discretionary medical card numbers down to approximately 50,000. There were 63,000 discretionary medical cards at the beginning of 2013, and 50,000 at the end of the year, as a result of the Government’s policy decisions. Anybody with severe conditions who applied from 2011 on was refused. Those people did not have cards before 2011. How will the Taoiseach rectify the injustice to those people?

The Taoiseach mentioned motor neurone disease. How will somebody diagnosed with the condition in the next three or four months get a discretionary medical card? The same question arises for a child with multiple disabilities. There is a fundamental incoherence and inconsistency here and the Taoiseach needs to deal with that. What has been proposed to date is not satisfactory. Does the Taoiseach accept that his decision is inconsistent and incoherent?

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