Martin Conway (Fine Gael)

I, like my colleague, Senator Mullins, was perturbed by what appeared in yesterday's Evening Herald. The inquiry would not have happened but for the fact that politicians looked for it. Twenty minutes was spent discussing this critical and serious matter at Cabinet as a result of the public outcry, which was articulated by colleagues such as Senator Mullins in recent days. It is a bit rich to read headlines like "Galling to See Politicians Order Inquiry into RTE." The bottom line is that if British politicians had not looked for inquiries, the telephone hacking scandal would not have been exposed in the first place.

I also agree with Senator Landy. Merely because something is centralised does not mean it is done properly. My experience in dealing with medical cards over the years has been positive because of the role the community welfare officers played in deciding on borderline cases, taking all the facts into consideration and making a recommendation. We are now in a position where we cannot make that type of representation to the centralised body concerned because we do not know the staff, we have no personal relationships with them and we cannot really make a case.