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TAOISEACH ENDA KENNY has admitted that there should not be a situation where seriously ill children have lost their discretionary medical cards and blamed “systems failure” and “the process of change” for a number of cases that have been highlighted recently.
Kenny also faced calls to resign today from the Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams during a heated and lengthy Leaders’ Questions.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin again raised the issue of medical cards being taken from chronically ill children and adults blaming a “consistent” policy to withdraw cards cards and claiming “thousands of cards across the country have been taken from people”.
Kenny said in response: “I saw some of the cases mentioned in the media. These were cases that the system should have been able to deal with, but because of the process of change here something was missed.”
He admitted that “we shouldn’t have a situation like this” and said that there was a “systems failure that didn’t know about the information involved here” either because letters from the HSE were not replied to or people “get scared” when they receive letters.
Kenny insisted: “I hope that out of all of this difficulty for these parents and their children that this matter will be sorted out.”
He said he has spoken to parents in recent days who have “some exceptional cases” where medical cards have been refused, adding: “These will all be sorted out.”
Kenny also hit out at Martin accused him of having “a cheek to come in here and presume now to use your opportunistic political opportunity to say these things”, slamming the opposition party leader’s record in government.
He said that Health Minister James Reilly has managed to make “serious changes” to the structure of the Irish health system and pointed out that 43 per cent of population has access to free GP care with nearly 1.9 million medical cards in circulation.
Kenny said a new communications strategy has been put in place by the HSE to allay the fears of people over their medical cards.
“The challenges facing the health area are challenging but they’re achievable,” he said.
Adams said that Kenny should resign and go to the people on his policies, but Kenny responded: “We’re not in the business here, Deputy Adams, of shirking responsibility.”
Independent TD Clare Daly, speaking for the Technical Group, called on the Taoiseach to admit that he and his government are pursuing a “neo-liberal agenda”.
During a rowdy and lengthy Leaders’ Questions, independent TD Michael Healy-Rae called on the government benches to meet the elderly people protesting outside Leinster House today.
“Ye ran from them today,” he shouted across the Dáil chamber.
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Lets start the PR campaign for increased premiums for this year. Insurance industry do you job and stop moaning.
Every time there’s a natural disaster somewhere around the world we’re asked to dig into our pockets and help out. While I’m not comparing this to the loss of life or devastation of some of these disasters to this series of storms I can’t help wondering if anyone around the world will give a damn about us or put their hands in their pockets for our communites wiped out by these storms. I doubt it. We’ll be left to fend for ourselves and raise more levies to pay for the repairs. No happy endings here.
Despite our current troubles, we aren’t a third world country.
No children will starve because of this storm.
Your comparing apples and oranges.
Actually I stressed that I wasn’t trying to compare our current troubles, as you choose to describe them, to anyone else’s. What I said was that when others had disasters far worse than what we’re currently experiencing we have consistently put our hands in our pockets to help them out, I’m simply ask for a little quid pro quo.
This need not necessarily come from those third world countries you describe but, just as we helped other countries on the other side of the world, there are plenty of wealthy countries on the other side of the planet who we have helped out in the past when they weren’t so well off.
I bet they are rubbing their hands together saying what ever we spend we will triple it next year by raising rates
Presumably all these premium increases will be reversed once the profit margins reach previous levels.
I thought insurance companies didn’t cover damage by acts or nature or acts of God?!
Can they prove that god exists, that it was an act of god? Tot so
I’m covered so, as an athiest.
If they’re going to claim it’s an act of God, then prove God exists.
You prove he exists iv things to do today il give ye a hand tomorrow
They can’t make up the cost because their too busy making up increase in premiums first.
This will be covered by the wet storm and flood peril operative on all standard home insurance policies.
They’ll pull some excuse out of their holes not to pay out for damages. Insurance companies are nothing but thiefs.
Like “sorry but we don’t cover flood damage cos you…… Em live on a fookin island” or something. Storm damaged roof recently wasn’t covered and excuse given was bad workmanship when the house was built…… 12 years ago, if the workmanship was that bad surely one of the storms over the last 12 years would have exposed it.
What gets me is if you have a claim they increase your insurance on renewal,but if you have no claim during the term of your policy they don’t do likewise and decrease it,no it always goes up for some reason or another,then they take away flood cover,now this is like 50%,of your policy,now does your policy go down 50%,no it dissent,its time to tink outside the box on other ways of protecting your property like some kind of co,op and get rid of these insurance parasites.
The majority of affected properties damaged will not be covered for flooding due to the exclusions in their policies as all the areas are have flooded before and once their is a claim for flood in the area all properties in the area are designated as a flood area. So all they will pay for is a few slates
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