Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I agree with the sentiments expressed by Senator Landy on the need to have the Minister come before the House once again at the earliest date possible to discuss health matters and medical card issues in particular. All Members could recount similar examples of people whose medical card applications either are not being processed in sufficient time or are being refused. The HSE has a substantial budget, not of hundreds of millions but of billions of euro. It certainly has a high staffing level, of well in excess of 100,000 people. While it is not short of offices or resources, it sometimes appears to be very short of humanity and common sense. In particular, the centralisation of the medical card service has been quite disastrous because it has removed the discretion and common sense which was applicable when the local community welfare officer was in charge of issuing cards. Consequently, an urgent review of that system is required.

The other issue I wish to raise briefly appears on the Order Paper under the heading, Papers laid before the Seanad. I refer to the draft programme documents of November 2011 of the EU-IMF programme of financial support for Ireland, that is, the documents relating to the famous bailout. It would be helpful, sometime after the budget and perhaps in mid-December, were Members to have a debate with the appropriate Minister or Ministers on the current state of the programme, the level of progress made, the level of commitments given by Ireland and how they have been responded to and the level of commitments given by Europe and the IMF. It would be helpful were all Members brought up to date on where that programme stands at present because virtually every debate in this House, be it about medical cards, jobs or whatever, really relates back to the bailout programme and the IMF. On the anniversary of the signing of that agreement, it would be important that Members receive an official update on how now stand the workings of that agreement.