Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I support the view expressed by Senator Barrett on the Minister for Health, the VHI and other charges. The Minister could be described as a poacher turned gamekeeper. No other president of the Irish Medical Organisation has negotiated, on behalf of doctors, a deal such as the golden medical card deal he negotiated in a previous capacity as IMO president. He practically blackmailed a previous Government when it announced in the budget that it would allocate medical cards to everyone aged over 79 years. He strategically demanded that general practitioners receive an outrageous amount - €600 or thereabouts - for each patient and now that he is Minister, he is paying the price.

I wish Senator Eamonn Coghlan well following his departure from the group of Independent Senators.