James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I am sure it is pleasing for him to be the bearer of good tidings, as this Bill is.

It is always a challenge to rear children, but I think parents of children with disabilities face additional challenges and those with special needs more so. To be able to give some comfort with regard to medical care costs and the medical card scheme is something that I truly welcome. It is only right and proper that, as our economy recovers, those who are most vulnerable should be the first to benefit. It fits in with the general theme of trying to bring the medical card scheme and free primary care to all our citizens.This is another step along the road.

Primary care is the most cost-effective and closest to home service. It has been an abiding principle that the patient should be seen at the lowest level of complexity which is safe, timely, efficient and as near to home as possible. Sadly, because of the financial position we found ourselves in, many services were cut and, indeed, rather than remove services, charges were increased through the prescription charge. I am delighted that this charge has been reduced in two ways - first, by reducing the per item charge and, second, by reducing the monthly cap. This will also help many in our society who are elderly or vulnerable and who are on multiple medications.

I echo Senator Colm Burke's comments on the waste that occurs under the medical card scheme. I recently encountered somebody who was terminally ill and who did not have a medical card. On his passing, there were boxes of medications he had ceased using, which were still in date. If I brought them to certain pharmacies, I would be told they could not re-sell them because they were in somebody else's possession and they could not guarantee their propriety and safety. This is our health service and it belongs to us all. It, therefore, behoves us all to be mindful of waste, including doctors, nurses and patients, in respect of medications we no longer use. I would love to see more empowerment of the patient to say to the doctor, "I am not using that so please do not prescribe it", or to say to the chemist, "Please do not dispense it". I have numerous experiences of opening a wardrobe only for a raft of medication to fall out, much of it out of date, because people believe that because the doctor has prescribed it, they should accept the prescription silently. Doctors, patients and pharmacists need to join together to avoid this waste. It is particularly prevalent in certain areas and we all need to guard against it.

I welcome the legislation, which is another step along the road to providing free GP care for the entire population, and I congratulate the Minister of State and the Minister on it.