Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that the Minister of Health come to the House today to provide a briefing on the medical card fiasco. We have heard a great deal of positive commentary on this issue in recent weeks. The Taoiseach has assured us it will be dealt with, and there have been indications of a postponing or ending of the reviews of discretionary cards. We have had news reports featuring various Ministers giving off-the-cuff indications that some, most or all discretionary cards will be returned to recipients. In the meantime, however, we have, in effect, a zombie Minister who seems in line for the chop in the coming Cabinet reshuffle. Further procrastination has arisen as a consequence of the posturing within the Labour Party in advance of its leadership battle, with one-upmanship and attempts to win party members' votes the priority for the competing Minister and Minister of State rather than looking after citizens.
While all of the positive rhetoric has been welcomed - I welcome it myself - it must be followed up with tangible action, which has not happened to date. I have seen a newspaper advertisement seeking people's views on whether discretionary cards should be returned to recipients, but that is all I have seen. On the other hand, we heard this morning that a discretionary card has been taken from a lung transplant patient. A person whose discretionary medical card is currently under review came to my clinic yesterday and outlined how, having queried whether this review was now halted, the response was that it was not. When this individual pointed to reports in the media that such reviews were, in fact, halted, the response was that this was the case for some people. In other words, the situation remains as it was before all the positive rhetoric from the Taoiseach and others and the preoccupation of the prospective leaders of the Labour Party with the battle hustings. A type of Animal Farmequality continues; all people are equal, but some are more equal than others. If there is a discretionary system of medical card provision in place, surely a lung transplant patient must be high on the list of likely candidates?
The people, frankly, do not care whether the Government continues with a zombie Minister for Health or who wins the forthcoming Labour Party leadership battle. They are concerned with the tangible facts surrounding discretionary medical cards. Are the reviews ongoing, as seems to be the case for the person who came to my clinic? Will transplants patients continue to lose their cards? What are the Government's plans on this issue?