David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Senator Darragh O'Brien's call for the Minister for Health to come to the House for a debate on many issues relating to the health service. We have still not had a proper debate on the national HSE service plan and the impact it will have on acute hospitals and primary care services across the State. The funding cuts which were put in place in the budget are only now being felt by hospitals and in the health service generally.

One symptom of the problem concerns medical cards. Every day, Government and Opposition Members deal with the many people with discretionary medical cards who are losing them. Those concerned have very serious illnesses and they are traumatised by the fact that they may lose their medical card. In many cases they have received correspondence or were told on the telephone that their medical card was gone but they must wait weeks before they get written confirmation at which point they can appeal the decision. People are left in an awful position. The situation with medical cards is a mess and it is causing real trauma for those who have cards or those who need them. We need to have a discussion with the Minister for Health on the impact the budget cuts will have mainly on acute hospitals.

The Leader might be aware that I held a public meeting last week in Waterford city on health care. A number of health care professionals, including a consultant who works in Waterford Regional Hospital and a GP who is based in Waterford, talked about their experience of the cutbacks in the health service and the impact they are having on patient care and the ability of the hospital to be able to provide the level of service the people in Waterford and the south-east region need. Health care is important to all of us. I ask the Leader to arrange for the Minister for Health to come into the House as soon as possible to have such a debate.