Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There are hard and unpopular decisions in respect of this Budget but in health alone, the number of people benefiting from medical cards has gone from over 1.2 million to over 1.8 million. Between medical cards and GP-only medical cards, the figure will be over 2 million by the end of 2013 and funding must be provided for that. It is about trying to get a balance. In fairness, people have medical cards because incomes have decreased and we must deal with that reality.

Both social welfare and health care will take over ¤34 billion of the entire budget, which is over 60%. That is a significant slice of the budget. It is about trying to secure fairness for everyone across the board. We will not keep everyone happy given the decisions that must be taken. I have no difficulty with having a debate on this matter. We must dismantle a number of things. A simple issue relates to drugs. In 2000, drugs cost the Department of Health and Children ¤556 million. By 2010, the bill was ¤1.9 billion. We will not dismantle that over time. The Minister has already announced a cut of over ¤400 million in that area. That figure of ¤1.9 billion per annum for drugs is what the previous Government left us with without anyone being answerable for it.