Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the Ceann Comhairle will be as liberal in his interpretation of that as he was with Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, but I will be brief.

All of us in this House, whether in opposition or government, are concerned that we are now going to create a huge discrepancy between the entitlements of children under the age of six years and those over that age, particularly with regard to children with chronic or ongoing conditions. That is the fear that we have vis-à-visthis legislation. The Minister of State has made it quite clear that this is only the first step on the road to universal entitlement and that it is his intention to progress this further. We are all taking him at his word. However, with the announcement that he made during the Second Stage debate on this Bill regarding discretionary medical cards, the Minister of State has created an anomaly which I have described as institutionalising discrimination. I will give one brief example of what I mean and will then sit down.

Take two teenagers attending school, for argument's sake, in Athlone. I use Athlone in my example because it crosses the old Midlands-Western Health Board boundary. These two kids are sitting side by side in school and their parents have the exact same income. One of them resides in County Roscommon and the other in County Westmeath. They are both diagnosed with cancer in June of 2011. The child in County Westmeath got a medical card automatically because of the cancer diagnosis. The child in County Roscommon applied for a medical card, was refused, appealed the decision on the basis of medical hardship but the appeal was not upheld. When the discretionary medical card of the child in County Westmeath came up for renewal under the PCRS, the card was withdrawn because the child did not meet the standardised criteria. With the Minister of State's recent announcement regarding the return of discretionary medical cards to those who had them withdrawn, the child in County Westmeath will get the medical card back. However, the child in County Roscommon who applies again for a medical card will still be judged on the current rather than the historical criteria and will be refused again. That discrimination is continuing and what the Minister of State has now done has institutionalised that. The Minister of State has made a fundamental error in the context of his recent announcement and he needs to look again at the criteria for assessing entitlement to discretionary medical cards to ensure equality of treatment.

See this speech in context