Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

I join Senator O'Reilly in asking the Deputy Leader to convey to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Taoiseach the importance of an immigration agreement with the United States of America, and if we can see a rekindling of the McCain-Kennedy immigration Bill. This morning on "Morning Ireland" we heard the story of an Irish person being deported and of the fear of thousands of our fellow citizens in America. The Deputy Leader himself will be aware, from our own city of Cork, of people who are afraid to come home, who cannot come home and who need to have their position regularised.

I also ask him to have a debate on the medical card for the over 70s. This week thousands of pensioners are in distress. I hope thousands of them do not comply with the regulation, do not hand back the medical card and do not go back with the forms. They should have the medical card. They deserve it. They have been treated with disrespect by the Deputy Leader and his colleagues in government. We need an urgent debate on that.