Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Excellent. I thank the Senators for their valuable contributions. I have taken many notes, as have my officials. It has been a thoughtful and important debate, both on the Bill before us and on the issues surrounding the Bill. The Senators' keen support and observations are very helpful, and we will keep them in mind. As Senator Higgins said, it would have been nice to have had input into the Bill as the debate proceeded but we are compressing it. Nonetheless, the Bill has an implementation aspect to it and the various contributions will be kept in mind during the implementation phase.The two measures are very important. They will ensure that irrespective of ability to pay all children of primary school age will have access to GP services, which we all agree is a profoundly important step in the right direction.

Expanding eligibility for the medical card among those aged over 70 is incredibly important. Everyone over 70 used to have a medical card whereas now everyone over 70 has either a GP visit card or a medical card; three in every four people over 70 years has a medical card, and the remaining one in four has the GP visit card. We are expanding the former. My intention, and I should discuss this with the Government -----