The increasing cost of medical care bears out this argument. I visited the doctor last week at a cost of €40. Anyone who attends an accident and emergency department without a letter of referral from a general practitioner must pay the same amount. The result of this is medical neglect among a large sector of the population. The most worrying aspect is the medical neglect of children whose parents cannot afford to pay for medical treatment. In a society which has experienced the fastest growth rate in the developed world it must appear strange that one of the basic principles of human existence, health, and most alarmingly, the health of children, is being neglected.