Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I am getting a little upset by the contributions from the Government side of the House. Consistency does not mark the number of U-turns Senator O'Malley has made on the budget. Does she believe in the U-turns she has made in regard to this scheme up to this point, or does she believe there should be a return to giving vouchers to the over 70s, as was the proposal initially announced? Fianna Fáil is a disgrace, considering it is now admitting that it was happy for the past seven years to give a second class service to patients over 70 who were living in poorer areas. That is a disgrace.

The Minister for Health and Children and the Minister of State present believe that an automatic entitlement to a medical card for patients over the age of 70 does not represent prudent or fair financial planning. To me, that is almost like a reverse takeover of Fianna Fáil by the PDs when prudent and fair financial planning are the only considerations that feature in a decision to give an automatic entitlement to those who are over the age of 70. We are beginning to find that many other things we took for granted will be taken from patients as part of prudent and fair financial planning in the future. Let us ask parents of children who should be vaccinated against cervical cancer what they think of the current prudent and fair financial planning. Government policy clearly states that if money is tight, it is the poor, sick and elderly who will suffer. Three months ago the Government gave itself, us and every single public servant a 2.5% pay increase and that is the reason for the cutbacks. When Fianna Fail, the Progressive Democrats and the Greens are decimating the health service and education, risking cancer in young women and betraying elderly people, that——