Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We had discretionary medical cards in previous times and the word "compassion" was invoked on numerous occasions. It was not a compassionate programme in the sense that it became very bureaucratic and inflexible and discretionary medical cards were effectively withdrawn in their thousands even though the Government and HSE at the time were saying that was not the case. I am concerned that we have a situation again where people depend on these patches for pain relief and will now be in a position where they simply cannot access them.

It is creating huge anxiety. "Liveline" is only a sounding board but it has been a very loud sounding board over the past week. The programme has received numerous calls from people who are very agitated, anxious and concerned. The Minister said that a compassionate programme is in place, but he will have to be more specific on how people can access the lidocaine patch for pain relief in the first instance. We need more specifics so that GPs will be able to prescribe and people will be able to get it.

See this speech in context