Before the election, Fianna Fáil promised 200,000 medical cards, Fine Gael promised 500,000 and the Labour Party proposed something that was only one step on the way to its eventual goal. The tragedy is that the Government's promise – for which the parties comprising the Administration are responsible – has been reneged upon. As stated earlier, I could easily, and would be well able to, bash the Government. However, I am more interested in discovering what caused the Minister to decide that he had obtained the greatest amount of money possible for the health services from the Department of Finance this year. Within the envelope to which the Minister referred, the 200,000 extra medical cards had to be given a lower priority.