Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I too would like to pay tribute to all those people who stood for election. It always gives us pause for thought when we see so many good councillors from different parties lose their seats, sometimes through no fault of their own, and on this occasion it seemed the tide was out for the Government parties. We on this side of the House are aware of how quickly the tide can go out at certain times. I pay tribute to all those who fought a brave fight but unfortunately did not make it and to congratulate those who did make it. In the case of our party, particularly at local authority level, we have made some significant gains and that in itself is pleasing to somebody like myself who has run the Seanad trail.

I endorse what our leader in the House, Senator Darragh O'Brien, said with regard to the medical card issue. I would also like to have a debate on that issue in the House as soon as is practicable and if one is not forthcoming I will move an amendment to the Order of Business not today but early next week to ensure that we have a debate on it. It is mind-boggling that with regard to a number of medical card applications I have pursued for people who have a genuine reason for having one, there has been a demand for information such as home insurance details. I do not know what that has information has to do with an application for a medical card. I have come across three or four such demands. Also more information has been sought in respect of people in receipt of a disability allowance who have been means-tested. I am also surprised by the number of documents that have been submitted that have been lost or mislaid. People in receipt of farm assist who have been means-tested in the past 12 months, and whom the Department of Social Protection has acknowledged are entitled to farm assist, or people who are long-term unemployed, are being scrutinised again by the medical card central office. The Minister and his Government colleagues do not seem to realise the dreadful pedantic approach that is being taken in this respect. The Department was described by somebody previously as being in Angola and the approach to dealing with medical cards is so unprofessional and incoherent that those working in this area need to be given a kick where it would hurt.

Housing is a major problem not only in Dublin but nationally. In my county and home place of west Cork there is a great demand for housing and the number of people on housing lists has been the highest in the past decade. It is bewildering to think that this should be the case when there seems to be a huge surplus of houses throughout the country and that a great number of houses are now under the control NAMA. There might be a problem in terms of the number of houses and apartments in Dublin but somebody should rethink a national strategy to get people into houses that are currently idle and that cannot be sold.