Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Social Democrats on this very good motion. It breaks down the stealth charges that people are incurring during one of the most traumatic times in their lives.

It is good to see people in the Public Gallery for the first time in a long while. It warms every Deputy's heart.

The charges are stark. I am unsure as to whether any member of the Government could justify such costs for someone with a cancer diagnosis. The list goes on: day charges, car park charges and so forth. I received a letter from a constituent recently. I will refer to some of it. It was from a lady who was going through chemotherapy at the time. During the chemotherapy, she got a letter from a debt collector telling her that she owed a certain amount of money and the collector wanted it as soon as possible. A country cannot call itself civilised if it is chasing down people in the middle of chemotherapy over charges for a public service. It is ludicrous. I do not know who makes this stuff up.

I try not to personalise issues in politics or anywhere else but Mr. Paul Reid earns €420,000 per year. That is ten times what a nurse earns. That cannot be justified. I do not care if Mr. Reid can speak 20 languages. He does not justify that incredible amount of money while nurses, the lady in Dublin Mid-West and other people who are going through similar situations have to pay these costs.

Let us break it down. We are talking about someone who is in the middle of a diagnosis and going through a very stressful time, who cannot work because of the diagnosis and who is now incurring extra costs. If someone can justify that, I would like to hear it. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, could not justify it. I am curious as to what her response would be to someone in that situation.

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