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The leader of Fianna Fáil and Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that the increase in the threshold for medical cards for the over 70s will continue.
He said they “do not depend on the savings” found in the Health Department budget.
Speaking at a private meeting of his own parliamentary party, Mr. Martin said that the commitment to honor the increase will be acted upon.
Doubts had been raised about the promise after such savings had not been achieved due to Covid-19.
“Obviously, no savings have been made thanks to Covid,” Junior Health Minister Frank Feighan said when asked about setting a start date at Seanad last week.
Failure to establish the additional entitlement “has certainly been a source of frustration for people 70 and older who may be eligible below the new thresholds,” he said.
But Martin moved to quell a possible backlash by saying the compromise will be honored.
He also told his deputies and senators that foreign funding of Irish political parties should be part of the review of former politicians taking up lobbying positions.
Mr. Martin spoke at a private meeting of his parliamentary party Tuesday night and rejected questions from various TDs and senators about the review of legislation related to the Standards Commission in the Public Office.
Cabinet agreed to the review following the resignation of former Senator Michael D’Arcy and the appointment as chief executive of a lobby for investment managers.
Mr. Martin’s comments that the revision of the SIPO rules should include foreign funding and its impact on politics here was seen as a clear attack on Sinn Féin.
He told the meeting that the best way to reform the policy is the establishment of an electoral commission.
Cork North-Central TD Padraig Sullivan urged the Taoiseach to challenge the Senate vacancy caused by D’Arcy’s resignation to allow the party to reassert its identity.
Mr. Martin was said to be “uncommitted” suggesting that a reciprocal arrangement would apply if it were a Fianna Fáil vacancy, leading many to conclude that the party will not contest it.
Sen. Malcolm Byrne said he wants Fianna Fáil to work on her identity and running for the Senate could be part of that.
“If SIPO takes as long to investigate D’Arcy as it takes to deal with the election results, then Darcy’s year will be over,” he joked.
Regarding the budget, Martin said that the budget will respond to the twin threats of Covid and Brexit.
Mr. Martin told his party colleagues that housing, weather and broadband will take priority in terms of capital spending.
Mr. Martin also highlighted the hospitality industry as one likely to receive specific budget supports.
The Minister of Public Expenditure, Michael McGrath, also criticized Sinn Féin’s “scaremongering” over the treatment that banks give to homeowners and the interruptions in payments.
He accused Sinn Féin of misleading people about the bank’s payment breaks, saying they are causing people great distress.
Earlier, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien updated the TDS on housing and homelessness, telling his colleagues that the delivery of public housing is now “delayed for weeks” due to Covid.
O’Brien said the far left wanted to see evictions for their own political ends, but that is not happening.
Junior Commerce Minister Robert Troy said he wants to see his party deliver affordable housing. He says that some local authorities are not complying with social housing and are renouncing their responsibility to the agencies. The department must be verified in this regard.
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