John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy de Valera. I also welcome the Bill which, at one level, is essential, particularly as it rectifies the deficiency that has existed in the system for 30 years. An attempt was made to rectify this deficiency before Christmas and it is important to state that the Supreme Court did not find the practice of charging unconstitutional. The court did, however, find the retrospective aspect unconstitutional. The latter is an important point because there seems to be some suggestion in certain quarters that the practice was unconstitutional but that is not the case.

The Bill is also essential in terms of giving legislative effect to a decision to provide GP-only medical cards. This, however, was not imperative in the same way as rectifying the original defect in the system. That is why the Bill is important and why it must be passed by the Houses.

I accept that it is impossible to consider the Bill in isolation to the Travers report because it derives from the subject matter thereof. It underlines an important principle which is dealt with in the opening pages of the report, namely, that of perceived fairness. The report refers to the "perceived fairness of requiring a reasonable financial contribution to the costs of public health services on the part of those persons receiving such services taking account of their ability to make such persons". That principle has been outlined on several occasions, particularly in the health strategy published by the Government in 2001 which states, "It is fair that all those in receipt of publicly provided residential long-term care should make some payment towards accommodation and daily living costs, if they can afford to do so, just as they would if they were living in the community". I do not believe there is any dispute between various political perspectives on that matter. Most reasonable people accept that those who are in a position to subvent their care should do so.

A legal defect existed and it is to the credit of the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children and others, including Deputies Perry and Kenny, that this was identified and, more importantly, that action was taken to rectify it. It is not as if the identification of the defect is something new. That had happened as long ago as the mid-1970s. Section 1 of the Bill deals with full eligibility. Part of the difficulty that arose related to the concepts of full and limited eligibility and how they apply.

The Tánaiste is to be commended for acting quickly to rectify the defect. We have had one attempt at doing so which was struck down by the courts, the independence of which we accept, and we have now been presented with a second one which, I hope, will prove successful. A certain determination and an acceptance that things had been done incorrectly was required in order to do what the Tánaiste has done. The Travers report, which apportions blame, represents a manifestation to get to the bottom of this matter. The report is unusual in that it is concise, explicit, makes findings and, perhaps, will teach us some lessons about tribunals and their inadequacies.