Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and the proposals before the House today.

I welcome the domiciliary care allowance and the proposal to bring almost 10,000 extra children into the category in receipt of medical cards. I have been involved with one or two families that were just over the threshold in the past and know the pain that they went through. I compliment the Minister of State and the other Ministers with responsibility for health for having the foresight to take this on board. One particular family has two other children as well and were in negative equity. They went through considerable pain. Their daughter had severe difficulties and disabilities. They did everything and are still doing everything. It is going to be a great relief to many families, and especially to the almost 10,000 children who are now going to qualify from, I think, 1 June. Would I be right in saying that?

Another area that I would like the Minister of State to look at is whether an allowance could be given to families who have children with severe disabilities and who also have other children, maybe younger or similar in age. Perhaps the Minister of State could look at providing an allowance in the future towards their child care or whatever. Even though the medical card is going to go a long way to help relieve the pressure for these families, they go the extra mile when they are blessed with children with severe difficulties and perhaps leave themselves short of things to make sure their child has the best of everything. We have to think of the other children that are in the family as well. I would like the Minister of State to look at whether anything could be put in place, be it child care relief or whatever.

I welcome that the prescription charges for over-70s are being reduced. I have had many people visit my office. Even though I know they were on a cap of €25, some of the older and vulnerable people, especially those on basic pensions, found it very tough going. I welcome that it has been capped at €2 per item and €20 per person over 70 and his or her dependants. Some people worked and contributed all their lives, but some of them who are only on basic pensions found it very tough going. While we are talking about people who oversubscribe to drugs, I met some people who were not even fulfilling their full prescription on a monthly basis. They were leaving some of the drugs behind. They were necessary drugs in some cases because of people's conditions. All these allowances are going to help children under 16. I ask the same question as other colleagues in this regard. What happens once they reach 16? I also ask about the help that is being given to over-70s.