David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am addressing my comments not to the Minister of State but through the Chair - this seems to have been happening a good deal on Committee Stage debates recently for some reason, perhaps the Government is anxious to get legislation pushed through over Christmas. Prior to 2008 people over the age of 70 received a medical card without a means test. That is a fact. That was the position then. We then moved from a position of universal medical card cover to partial removal of the cover for some people because of the application of the means test. That is a fact.

We then had a U-turn by the previous Government on its decision to seek to remove all medical cards for those aged over 70. We cited the comments made by Opposition leaders during the protest at that time. We must remind ourselves of what the Minister for Health specifically said on this issue at that time and put it in the context of the Bill before us because it is important. He described the decision at that time as a vicious attack and a savage assault on the elderly, but it was not only with regard to the removal of the medical cards for everybody over the age of 70. When that decision was changed he said it was a desperate climbdown and that the then Government was simply tinkering with income limits, which he described as being nowhere near good enough. "Tinkering with income limits" and "nowhere near good enough" were his words, but then he came into office and did exactly that, he tinkered with income limits. If it was not good enough then, it should not be good enough now.

I do not want to be misrepresented on the point I was making about universality. I do not see universality in the provision of health care as being solely in the context of GP cover but in the context of all health care. It should be provided as a right in respect of primary and acute services, including medication, funded through general taxation. That is how I see it being done. We had this discussion on a different Bill yesterday with regard to people paying the universal social charge. They would ask themselves why are they paying the universal social charge, PRSI, more tax under the PAYE system and paying private health insurance and yet they still have to pay at the gate for health care. People pay three and four times in this State for health care. It might be more helpful if the Minister were to come into the House and have a discussion on universal health care and universal health insurance. I do not intend to speak again on this Bill as I have made my point. I just wanted to respond to what I consider to be as a misrepresentation of my argument. I fully accept that this will not have an impact on GP access for any older person but my understanding and view of universality of health care is broader than just GP access.