Kenny must listen to medical card truth

It is a pity that Taoiseach Enda Kenny is not as good a listener as he is a talker. He continues to insist that there has been no change in policy regarding the allocation of discretionary medical cards.

Some 80,000 patients — many with cancer, or children with severe disabilities — had discretionary medical cards in 2011, but that has dropped to 54,000.

The Taoiseach claims that the reason for the reduction is that individuals who were previously recorded as qualifying for a discretionary card now get one because they meet the income eligibility requirements. In other words, the Government has impoverished those people to such an extent that they now get medical cards as of right.

Instead of playing with numbers, Mr Kenny should listen to the voices of those who are hurting — like the single mother with a child who has Down’s syndrome whose heartbreaking story we record today.

It’s time to listen, Taoiseach. You might learn something.