Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We made the points yesterday. The section is wrong. We did not table all the amendments my party tabled in the Dáil where they all were ruled out of order, which was regrettable. It will be on the sections we will speak and some of those points will be general.

The Bill is regressive. It creates a lot of fear for those who will lose the medical card. Some, arguably, will not go the doctor. On his experience as a medical doctor and in opposition, the Minister, Deputy Reilly's, own assertion was that basic increases of 50 cent on a prescription charge would potentially stop persons from going to the doctor to get drugs and medicines. That is the opinion of a physician, not somebody merely trying to score a political point, although he could certainly have been accused of that on many occasions. If the Minister will say we are taking away the medical card and one will have the drugs payment scheme, nevertheless, there has been a trebling in the cost per item that must be paid.

It would also seem that the Bill gives the Minister the power to decrease the criteria for eligibility without an Oireachtas vote.