10 March 2005
Dr. Henry: I move amendment No. 1:
In page 3, line 17, after “spouse,” to insert “unless they be separated for more than five years,”.
I will not delay the House as I already raised my concerns about this on Committee Stage. It is quite common here that people who parted after a very short time of marriage did not get a divorce because there was no divorce in this country. We must also take into account that some people do not want to get divorced for religious reasons. This has not been taken into account in this legislation as far as I can see. I suggest that one of the partners could be very unfairly treated in later life. He or she could be expected to pay up for minding someone whom they had, perhaps, not seen for 20 or 30 years. I doubt that those who framed the legislation intended this, but it could happen as a result of the way this legislation is framed. My best suggestion is to insert this amendment to say “unless they be separated for more than five years”. This would prevent people from trying once again to get largesse from the State.
There seems to be an idea here that people are always planning ahead to get money from the State to which they are not entitled. If it is not lone parents, it must be old people who are going into nursing homes. It is rather shabby to think these groups are the sort of people who are trying to defraud the State. We can be quite sure they are some of the poorest in the State and those most in need of help. I foresee this causing trouble down the line. I do not know how many people it will affect, but it is unfair. I doubt that whoever framed the legislation intended anything like this to happen.
The reason we are in the Oireachtas is to examine legislation. This amendment can hardly be described as anti-Government. We are trying to ensure that some people who may not be very well off will not be put in the position of trying to maintain someone with whom they have had little to do for a long time.
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Dr. Henry: If the Minister of State has legal advice, I hope it is right. I also hope that if it is right, it is taken. We have had a lot of trouble over legal advice that was or was not taken recently. I hate to see legislation being passed that I think will put some people in a difficult situation in the future. These people are the very ones who will not be in a position to take legal advice because it is too expensive. In the case of the nursing homes, it was those who had the wherewithal to take legal advice who eventually exposed the situation. I can see that I will not get anywhere with this amendment and am disappointed.
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Dr. Henry: I thank the Minister of State for his time and consideration. I hope my fears about this do not come to pass. The doctor-only medical card could be useful because it might decrease our reliance on pharmaceuticals. This is a double-edged sword because we rely so heavily on the pharmaceutical industry for employment that we pay some of the highest prices in Europe for pharmaceutical products. This is something the Minister should examine. The cost of medicines in Ireland compared with Italy, France and so on — I have not recently bought them in the United Kingdom — should be examined because the Government negotiates the price of pharmaceuticals with the companies. I have never found Ireland to be cheaper than other countries. For example, 11% of the health service budget is expended on such products. This must be examined considering €2 billion must be found somewhere.
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