Uproar over a 'stupid, callous own-goal'
Friday October 17 2008
THE overhaul of the medical cards scheme is the "most stupid, callous own-goal" ever perpetrated by a government on the country's old age pensioners, Fine Gael claimed last night.
The stinging attack from party leader Enda Kenny came on a day of rowdy, robust and aggressive debate during the Dail's Order of Business which was taken by Tanaiste Mary Coughlan.
With the Labour Party claiming that Fianna Fail ministers were running like "frightened foxes from a forest fire" and deflecting blame to the Health Minister Mary Harney, the Tanaiste was forced to issue a strong defence of the Government's actions and insist the decisions were made by all in cabinet.
She told the Dail that the Government was being condemned for deciding against giving medical cards to "well-off pensioners, to senior civil servants, High Court judges, property tycoons, ministers of state and hospital consultants. Now you tell me where there's fairness and equity in that."
Of the €100m savings from scaling back the medical cards for over-70s, €86m is from GPs and €30m is from pharmacists, Ms Coughlan said.
She also sought to draw attention to Fine Gael's health spokesman James Reilly who was chairman of the Irish Medical Organisation's GP committee when the deal was first negotiated and achieved the €85m payment for GPs.
During the sharp exchanges across the floor for over 90 minutes, Mr Kenny said the Government could have charged the banks a much higher fee than €500m for the guarantee scheme and "forget this nonsense" of taking away people's medical cards.
"The Government parties have reduced elderly Irish citizens to economic statistics rather than people. They have offended them, hurt their integrity and driven a stake through what they did for this country," Mr Kenny said.
Calling on the Government to reverse its decision, he said he had found a way for the Government to raise the required €100m without touching medical cards. "The health Bill can change the regulations that will allow for pharmacists to prescribe generic drugs instead of branded drugs. That will bring in €150m and save the blushes of Fianna Fail, the Green Party, the Progressive Democrats and the Independents," he said.
Credibility
"The Government can restore some sense of credibility and peace of mind to elderly people who are frightened about the letters they will receive from the Minister for Health and Children in the next fortnight."
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said he sympathised with any minister who is going to go down in history as the minister who took the medical card from the pensioners.
"The Government is now desperately trying to spin and explain its way out of the decision it made to take away the medical card from old age pensioners," he said. "Nine out of every 10 people over 70 who currently have an automatic medical card will lose it. This is a fact. All of the things they are talking about putting into place is being done to recover €100m."
And Sinn Fein's Caoimhghin O Caolain claimed the medical cards of a large number of people would expire at the end of this month or next month.
Green Party leader and Environment Minister John Gormley said nobody liked having to make "unpopular decisions" but they had to be made for the sake of the country. "Everyone has to be shoulder to shoulder on these decisions, there can be, I'm afraid, no backtracking."
Fine Gael health spokesman James Reilly accused the Government of "sowing seeds of confusion and anxiety for elderly people while displaying the arrogance of a government that is completely out-of-touch with ordinary life."
- Aine Kerr Political Correspondent
