Ministers turn deaf ears to phone-in

Shame medical cards are being cut back because it sounds like Michael Noonan and Brendan Howlin could do with urgent treatment for their serious hearing problems.

The prickly pair came across like Deaf and Deafer as they failed to answer the questions put to them by the victims of their cuts in the traditional post-budget phone-in on RTÉ.

Clearly, they would not qualify for a medical card as they pay themselves more each year, in a country the same size as Manchester, than David Cameron receives for running Britain.