John Kelly (Labour)

Last weekend, I was concerned to read in a Sunday newspaper that the Minister for Health, to save money, is considering the withdrawal of medical cards from 200,000 people who have not used or activated their cards for more than two years. While I accept we should not make payments to general practitioners in respect of medical cards that are not activated, it must be borne in mind that the card holders in question are entitled to their medical cards. I am not in favour of the withdrawal of medical cards from them. The fee per item system that was agreed with general practitioners in the past worked to a degree. It was changed to allow general practitioners to receive payments in respect of each medical card holder. I would have a problem with the withdrawal of cards from people who derive peace of mind and security from them and who might need them in the future. Rather than proceeding with this ill-conceived proposal, the way forward would be for the Minister to deduct a fee from each general practitioner on the basis of his or her overall percentage of unused medical cards. When legislation relating to general practitioners has been considered in this House in the past, such people have been the subject of some criticism. I brought my son to a general practitioner yesterday for a second visit regarding an ailment that had not cleared up. To be fair to him, I must compliment him on his morals. He did not charge because the medication originally prescribed did not work. There are, therefore, general practitioners with high moral standards and I must compliment them. I ask the Deputy Leader to relay to the Minister for Health my view that withdrawing medical cards from patients just because they have not used them is not the way forward.