John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. I cannot welcome this Bill but no matter how much I dislike it, I recognise the necessity of implementing the measures contained in it. The Minister of State referred to the requirement to take ¤750 million from the health budget, which totals ¤13.6 billion. This certainly presents a challenge, especially on top of the reductions in the budget we have already seen in recent years. There is no question but that the cuts or reductions in service we are implementing will cause real difficulties for people. Unfortunately, however, there is no possibility of closing the fiscal deficit without finding cost-savings in the large-spending departmental programmes. It is as simple as that. That is the horrible reality facing this Government. In other circumstances and in normal times, we would not be doing this at all because there would be no requirement to do it. Unfortunately, here we are and this is the situation we are faced with. If members of the Opposition or anybody else have suggestions as to how we can close the deficit without taxing ourselves into oblivion, the Minister for State would be very happy to hear them, as would I and members of the Cabinet. We must be realistic in what we are attempting to do.

The Minister of State pointed out that 97% of those over 70 will not be affected by this Bill and that the 3% who are affected will still be entitled to a doctor-visit card and will be eligible for the drug prescription scheme and many other schemes. This is a proportionate response to the issue at hand. It also recognises what could be called the enhanced health requirements that people accrue as they get older. The targeting of resources to this area is probably the most important element here.

Senator Burke referred to the fact that there are 165,000 extra medical cards in the system since this Government came to office. That in itself is a recognition of the need that is out there. It is also something that is never referred to by anybody except members of the Government. Nobody in opposition will draw attention to the fact that there has been an increase in the number of medical cards issued. Members of the Opposition prefer to hark upon the decreases. Having said that, once something is given as an entitlement, it is particularly difficult to take it away, no matter how few people are actually affected.

The populist political decision to give everybody over the age of 70, irrespective of income, a free medical card was nothing short of reckless, especially as it was based on gross miscalculations. Senator Barrett referred to mistakes made at the Department of Health in this regard but the Department of Health has a political master. It is important to remind people that the Minister who made that decision in 2008 was Deputy Micheál Martin, the current leader of Fianna Fáil in the other House. Deputy Martin has form in terms of deflecting responsibility away from himself. We saw that when he blamed his officials for the fact that he had not read his brief when he was challenged about the illegal nursing home charges by members of an Oireachtas committee. He blamed one of his officials, who was moved sideways while the Minister was moved upwards. It is just remarkable that political accountability does not go both ways.

At a time of limited resources, it is very important that we target spending and direct resources to where they are needed most. Senator MacSharry said that a saving of ¤12 million this year and ¤24 million in a full year is a small amount of money. While that is true, it also demonstrates just how well targeted this initiative is, when the sums involved are acknowledged by the Opposition to be very small. Nonetheless, the changes in this legislation will have an impact on some people. The threshold we are dealing with here is an income of ¤31,000 per year.

Senator MacSharry said that we are again targeting a vulnerable group of people. To accrue an income of ¤31,000 a year would require an investment in a pension fund of approximately ¤650,000, which is not a small amount of money and such an investment would not be typical of the most vulnerable people in our society. Senator Colm Burke pointed out that the annual income threshold for medical card holders below the age of 70 who are in receipt of State pensions is in the region of ¤11,500. Proportionately, we are not doing too badly here. We certainly cannot be charged with targeting a vulnerable cohort of our society. In the interest of fairness, such a measure is warranted under the circumstances.

Senator MacSharry also mentioned that the Opposition is blind. Of course, the Opposition is always blind, as it is right now, because in 2008 in a vote in the other House, the Fianna Fáil-led Government voted by 81 to 74 in favour of doing exactly what we are doing here. It was in favour of it then and against it now. We were against it then and are in favour of it now. Does it not indicate how the Opposition of the country operates? It might be a debate for another day.

Senator MacSharry also mentioned amnesia. I love the splendid retrospective detachment he has from every decision made by the previous Government. He seems to have opposed every measure the previous three Governments implemented and continues to oppose. We need to congratulate him on his consistency of approach to politics. I trust his colleague, Senator Wilson, will pass that message on to him.