Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Aontaím leis an méid atá ráite ag an Teachta Cullinane. Tá go leor sa Bhille seo a dhéanann ciall agus go leor a bhí á éileamh ag Sinn Féin ar feadh tamaill mhaith. Déanfaidh an Bille cinnte de go mbeidh sé de chumas ar go leor poitigéirí thar timpeall na tíre, a bhfuil fonn orthu níos mó a dhéanamh ó thaobh cúnaimh de, níos mó a dhéanamh. Tá go leor eolas agus saineolas acu maidir le cúrsaí sláinte agus faoi mar atá, níl an áis sin á húsáid faoi mar ba chóir.

Aontaím freisin leis an méid atá ráite ag mo chomhghleacaí ó thaobh na leibhéil ioncam agus an tionchar atá aige sin ar na cártaí sláinte. Tá gá le méadú air sin chun na srianta a dhéanamh níos fairsing ionas gur féidir níos mó daoine a cháiliú. Tá go leor daoine atá ag obair go dian agus tá siad faoi bhrú ó thaobh a gcuid ioncam i gcomhthéacs na géarchéime chostais mhaireachtála faoi mar atá faoi láthair. Ní fhaigheann siad cúnamh agus tá sé sin an-deacair dóibh. Is cóir féachaint air sin.

I agree with Deputy Cullinane. This is useful legislation. We support it. There are a number of aspects of the Bill with which we agree.

One of the things it does is exclude income relating to the rent-a-room tax relief. We agree with that because it makes sense. The tax relief creates a bit of extra capacity and encourages people not to be incentivised, on the one hand, and disincentivised, on the other, and in danger of losing out on the medical card. I talk about this in the context credit time and housing lists. The medical card is like money in the bank for people. We should always be conscious of the potential impacts. People will rightly take conscious decisions in respect of what initiatives they take or what they do regarding employment when they are trying to protect their medical cards because, as I say, it really is money in the bank for them.

In the context of income, Deputy Cullinane made a valid point on income thresholds. We believe they need to be expanded too. I also agree that the threshold for the drug payment scheme could be reduced in order that more people who do not qualify for the full medical card could benefit from that, There are an many people who, in the context of the cost-of-living crisis, are working very hard and struggling. If people have to make two visits to a GP in a month and pay for all the prescriptions which might go with that, it is a huge blow to their income, not least if there is a need for a third or fourth visit, as can often be the case in wintertime.

I raise this matter cautiously because it is one that requires consideration but there is legislation passing through the House at the moment in respect of child maintenance and whether that should be assessable for the purposes of social welfare payments. The Minister for Social Protection has removed child maintenance from the means-tested social welfare grants, which is welcome. The rational thing to do would be to look at where there are other income tests in the system. For example, in the context of social housing income assessment, child maintenance can be taken into account. I do not think that is right. For medical card assessments, child maintenance can be taken into account. You can potentially lose your medical card if the child maintenance brings you over the limit. What is more, because the medical card extends to everyone in the family, if you have children over the age of eight who do not qualify for the free GP card, those children could also lose their medical cards on the basis of child maintenance. If we are going to be consistent in social welfare payments, then we should be looking at this as well. It is also a bit of a contradiction because if you are paying child maintenance, that can be considered a valid expense. There is a bit of a contradiction there in the context of health policy.

We have a network of pharmacies that are willing to do more. Pharmacies have been underutilised. The minor ailments scheme that we have been proposing needs to be looked at. What the Minister talked about makes sense, and we agree with that. I echo the point made by Deputy Cullinane. The recruitment embargo is having is beginning to bite in the context of services provided, people's access to healthcare and staff numbers. Housekeeping staff in Cork University Hospital have been told that leave requests will be very limited for the next few months. They have been asked to apply for leave only if it is absolutely necessary because the hospital would not be able to cover all annual leave requests due to the shortage of staff.

We talked during Covid about those on the front line and the heroes out there. That was not just the nurses and the doctors. It was everyone in the healthcare system who banded together to hold everything together. These are housekeeping staff many of whom worked very hard during that period and they are basically being told "Listen lads, you can forget your holidays for the next couple of months". That is not right, and it is a consequence of Government policy. The Government really needs to rethink the approach it is taking with this embargo because it is not fair on staff or patients.

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