Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

Senator O'Malley should be aware that the budget cutbacks on the provision of medical cards amount to €5.8 million and it would cost approximately €10 million to vaccinate every single young girl in the country. The 2.5% increase we paid ourselves in September is approximately €300 million and next August we are going to spend another €800 million or €900 million on increases. How can Senator O'Malley say we cannot pay for those services? We are talking about a figure between €16 million and €20 million. We should be talking about not just keeping the over 70s medical card but extending it to children under the age of five, who are also a distinct vulnerable group in society because of the income——