Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the decision to reverse the decision on the removal of discretionary medical cards. It is important to understand that since January 2011 the number of people with medical cards has increased from 1.733 million to over 1.95 million. In fact, once the discretionary cards are restored we will probably exceed 2 million medical cards, which means that more than 43% of the population will have one. It is important to realise that there is a cost factor involved. It is also important to realise that the Government, in dealing with the issue, must come forward with a comprehensive review of how discretionary cards are granted into the future and that the decision is reached at a very early stage.

It is important to hold a debate on the housing issue, and I support my colleague, Senator Hayden, in her call for the debate.

I wish to remind Senator Walsh that from 2000 to 2010, while his party was in Government, fewer local authority houses were built than in any of the previous six decades. During that period, more than 90,000 houses were built per year, but very few of them were local authority houses. That was at a time when the Government received €44,000 from every €100,000 paid by a house purchaser. What did his party do with the money during that ten-year period?