Results 11,801-11,820 of 15,491 for speaker:Eamon Gilmore

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: That is very unfair.

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: On behalf of the Labour Party I too oppose No. 2 and I support Deputy Kenny in the reasons he has given. The Government is now desperately trying to spin and explain its way out of the decision it made to take away the medical card from old age pensioners. Nine out of every ten people over 70 who currently have an automatic medical card once will lose it. This is a fact. All of the things...

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: Whether Members of this House think they voted for it or against it a couple of minutes ago, it is manifestly clear that every Member of this House will have to vote on whether they want to take the medical card from pensioners.

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: There is a legal entitlement under the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2001 for people over 70 to hold a medical card automatically. The Government will have to introduce legislation to change that. I was interested to hear the Tánaiste say that this task will now be landed in the hands of the Minister for Social and Family Affairs.

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: I sympathise with any Minister who will go down in history as the Minister who took the medical card from the pensioners.

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: We can bring all of this to finality very easily if the Government——

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: ——does what it will be eventually forced to do which is to back off this proposal. I invite the Tánaiste to clarify the matter. The Minister for Finance said this morning that the proposal is intended to proceed regardless. The Government will take the medical card off pensioners and not only take the medical card off them but halve the income limits for the means test that will be...

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: On a point of order.

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: On a point of order.

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: I have also been standing here a long time trying to make this point. It is a point of order. The issue the Labour Party has raised has to do with the income limits for the medical card means test. In addition to taking the medical card from pensioners——

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: I want to talk. Will the Ceann Comhairle please hear me out? We raised the issue of the income limits for the means test. In reply, the Tánaiste has told the House the income limits are directly related to the medical card scheme for the free medical card for the over 70s. That is not the case.

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: I have here the extract——

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: The Ceann Comhairle is not hearing me.

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: I have here the extract from the budget speech by former Minister for Finance, Mr. Charlie McCreevy, in 1999, two years before the free medical cards came in, in which he said the income guidelines used to establish medical card eligibility for persons aged 70 and over would be doubled over the next three years, beginning with an increase of one third in the coming year. That is being...

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: Not only is the Government removing the medical card, it will also make it more difficult for them to get a medical card.

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for inviting me to oppose the Order of Business this morning.

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: I wish to oppose the Order of Business and I will explain my reasoning. I oppose the Order of Business until the Government can remove the anxiety, uncertainty and worry that exists among pensioners and older people across the country, from whom the Government intends to take away the medical card. The Government says it will save €100 million as a result of removing the medical card from...

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: ——what the Government is looking for, who will get the medical card, who will get the GP card, who will qualify for the subsidy and who will not have a card. This is causing significant concern to people. In addition to the concern about the loss of the medical card, there is the information Deputy Jan O'Sullivan brought to the attention of the House last night, namely, that the...

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: ——said this was all to do with the Minister for Health and Children. I wish to know——

Order of Business (16 Oct 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: I am perfectly in order.