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JUNIOR HEALTH MINISTER Alex White said he did not preside over the removal of discretionary medical cards from sick people “in any way”.
White, the Minister with Responsibility for Primary Care, said that the move to review the status of the cards was a “Cabinet decision made at the time of the budget”.
He admitted that “impact” of this decision was not “carefully enough assessed by the government at the time”.
Yesterday, he announced that the review process was stop with immediate effect.
The coalition came in for much criticism after it emerged that chronically ill people were losing their cards. White said that such incidents exposed “weaknesses in the system”.
A panel of experts will be established by the HSE to assess conditions that would qualify on medical need. They will be charged with drawing up conditions that would qualify for a card.
Today White admitted that ”the government was too slow to move on the issue”.
The government has to take responsibility for not reacting as quickly as it ought to have done … We’ll resolve this problem, we’ll fix this problem, we’ll do it properly.
Our responsibility in the first place must always be to care and treat people who are ill and need the services.
Earlier this week, TheJournal.ie obtained figures from the HSE that show from January 2013 to April 2014 there was a fall-off of 16,000 discretionary medical cards.
Of those eligible in January 2013, only 78 per cent were eligible 14 months later.
White made the comments in Dublin today, after announcing that he would contest the Labour party leadership.
Yesterday Social Protection Minister Joan Burton was the first to throw her name into the ring for the role.
White said that the contest for the leadership would provide “a good opportunity to have a real conversation, a dynamic conversation about where we are in the Labour party at the moment and where we need to be in the future”.
I’ve a great deal of respect for Joan Burton, I regard her as a good friend of mine.
He added that, if elected, he has no preference for his deputy.
White said that “there was no such thing as a shafting of Eamon Gilmore” and denied threatening to resign if he stayed on as leader of the party.
In terms of the next budget, he said he was “very much in favour of tax relief” but was “at least as concerned if not more concerned about the impact of cuts in public expenditure, particularly in health”.
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The Celtic Tiger never existed. It was all smoke and mirrors. All the wealth was based on credit.
And good riddance, may we never see a’boom’ based on credit again.
We will soon rise from the ashes and welcome the Celtic Phoenix!!!!
The Celtic Tiger is extinct.
He was killed,Eaten and his coat sold to feed a poor family in the mid west in early Spring 2009…
The Celtic Tiger?
The Celtic Ponzi Scheme Creature more like.
A very special Ponzi Scheme where the heinous culprits/villians get rewards, protection and media immunity as their victims are screwed to death.
Exactly. I said the same thing to my Business Studies teacher and to my ‘European Studies’ teacher in transition year. They looked at me like I had just told them I had broke into their houses and pissed on their kids.
True story.
From the celtic tiger to the celtic thieves led by edna and co.
That is the most embarassing phrase in the irish lexicon, and of course there will be some rubbish about a Phoenix or a Celtic tiger revival in the near future. Anything to make us feel good about ourselves
It’s was the best thing that ever happened to this country 50 years of progress in 10 to spite all it’s faults roll on the Celtic phoenix coming quicker than ye think
And now it’s in its way back and everyone is getting greedy again…. House prices rents and costs in general have increased. …. what have we learned ???????, nothing it seems !!
Don’t worry, she will be back. Circa 2018
I have a bridge I want to sell you in New York.
He only resigned now, wow?
We now have the “Austerity Tiger” tearing the lives of Irish Families apart!
Our elected politicians destroyed Ireland and its people.
Each man women and child has a debt of €100,000 each due to a Government decree whereby ” unsecured Bondholders” mainly German Banks lent money to Irish Banks for commercial gain.
Merkel forced Fianna Fáil to transfer the unsecured Bondholders to the Irish a Taxpayers . We therefore repaid German Banks in full!
Germany makes a surplus of €41billion PA from the rest of Europe while the rest of Europe has an annual deficit of €37 Billion!
Germany now owns Ireland and Irish Citizens are suffering from austerity even poverty!
The Government should have left the Euro and devalued hence boosting exports and creating many new jobs!
Soon we will rise from the ashes and welcome the Celtic Phoenix!!!
Today FM will buy it, sack everybody and rebrand it CTFM.
Today it is the Celtic Crater.
Boring
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