Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As we were not sitting last week, I have a number of issues I would like to raise on behalf of our group. The record should show that the Government Chief Whip in the other House is determining the business of this House. That is why we did not sit last week. The Government wants to make sure we are the Taoiseach's subservient little lap-dog. It is unfortunate that the opportunity to discuss an amount of business, including Private Members' Bills, was lost. We could have considered a number of items on the Order Paper, but for some inexplicable reason we were unable to do so. I am sure it is no fault of the Leader or the other Members of the Seanad on the Government side. It is the fault of their masters in the Dáil.

Will the Leader agree with me that, after two years of calls from this side of the House and the Opposition in the other House, the Taoiseach has conceded there is an issue with discretionary medical cards? Finally, he is beginning to listen to his own backbenchers. He certainly did not listen to us over the past two years when we highlighted day after day, week after week, month after month, the individual cases we all have come across. These are cases of blind people, people with cancer, long-term illnesses, multiple sclerosis and a wide variety of other illnesses who have been coldly and callously stripped of their discretionary medical cards in a very inhumane way. In the other House yesterday, many examples of this were given. All Members here have examples too. It is time something was done on this. Accordingly, I propose an amendment to the Order of Business, that the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, comes to the House and highlights in detail what will be done to help these families in question.

There is plenty of pre-election rhetoric to garner votes such as the Minister for Finance’s indication of tax cuts on the never-never, the Minister for Health’s indication of a third-tier of medical cards for discretionary card applications and the airy-fairy, woolly proposals we have heard on Irish Water. We do not want these kinds of empty promises. We need the absolute detail that will answer the question for the blind person whose home I was in last night when they expressed their fear their medical card review will take away their discretionary medical card. This issue has not just arisen in Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal and Cavan but in every county and city. Answers are required.

I will not call for the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to come to the House on Irish Water today because he is engaged in a Private Members’ motion on the issue in the other House. It is vitally important, however, we have him in here soon. Let us have a quick recap on events. In November, the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan, lied to the Deputy Barry Cowen by saying the cost of the establishment of Irish Water-----