The Combat Poverty Agency has a statutory role in advising the Minister for Social and Family Affairs on economic and social policy appertaining to poverty. Its theme was the prioritising of poverty at a time of economic uncertainty. How let down that agency must feel that its recommendations were not even mentioned in the budget. It recommended that the eligibility for medical cards be widened by increasing the income threshold, as promised in the Government health strategy. This recommendation was shot down by the Taoiseach before the budget even saw the light of day, another con trick on the electorate.