‘Targeting the most vulnerable’

“We are told that medical cards are not being taken away, that there is no cull. But when you look at what is happening, to my son and to other children with Down’s syndrome, it is hard not to feel that they are being targeted as the most vulnerable.”

Yesterday, feeling she had no other option, Noreen Keane left her office in Limerick, picked up her son Ronan from community care and stood with him outside the South Court Hotel, hoping Enda Kenny would spot them on the way into his party conference.

But, after they had waited for more than two hours, the Taoiseach was driven straight past them as Noreen shouted “give us our medical card” twice. He looked straight ahead.