Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister to the House and I hope she will listen. The Minister is a great attendee to the House. She listens and, if there can be compromise, she is open to it. It is a measure of the woman she is and where she is today. She is a reforming and caring Minister and her caring and listening side has come across in recent weeks regarding the medical card scheme.

The decisions on medical cards was wrong. We did not gauge it properly and the Minister, the Taoiseach and the Government have said that. It is never too late to say "We got it wrong". The Minister has returned with a very good scheme and I welcome it as it is very workable. I will not discuss the financial issues; the Minister has outlined all of them. Regardless of who one is, whether one comes under the terms of free medical card cover, if one is undergoing undue financial hardship because of a medical condition, regardless of financial circumstances, the case can be looked at independently. I am glad to see that. There are people who may be just above the threshold but have expensive medical bills to pay.

Some 330,000 people out of 350,000, which is 75%, are covered by the scheme. I heard the concerns of Senator O'Toole and I am always taken with what he has to say. He is a very balanced man and never comes in with an agenda. He is in a unique position as an Independent Member rather than a party Senator. He has very good ideas, but I do not share his view on a universal scheme. When it was brought in, it was with the best intent. We were in a different economic situation and it was a very good idea at the time.

Senator Prendergast mentioned old people in hospital. We all have experience of that in our families. Old people do not like going into hospital, but they need not be afraid. The older people I know will stay at home and should have no fear of going into hospital. It was unfortunate, and I know the Opposition will jump up and say, "No it was not". Politics played its part in this. I said that in the House last week and the week before.

I am glad to hear Senator Prendergast say it was wrong that Minister of State, Deputy John Moloney, was not allowed to speak. Government Members were invited to the meeting. I will say no more on the matter because I got myself into deep trouble over it and I am glad it has settled down. I am glad to hear others acknowledge what I said in the House last week.

The VHI was mentioned by the Opposition in the past two weeks. There is no need to worry about the VHI. It has seen very few people over 70 who received a medical card leave the organisation. It stated that it welcomes anyone who left, having received a medical card, back into the VHI regardless of their current health. They will not be penalised in any way——