TAOISEACH'S RADIO INTERVIEW:TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen yesterday said the plan to restrict access to medical cards for the over-70s will not proceed in its current form.
However, he said universal access to medical cards was not sustainable and signalled that the Government would instead examine a further widening in eligibility thresholds.
In an interview with RTÉ's This Week programme, Mr Cowen appealed for "time and space" to allow the Government to find a solution.
"The present proposal as we enunciated it clearly is not ultimately the proposal that will be decided upon because it does not merit or have the wider public acceptance that it would need to have. I am addressing those concerns and I think that those that have concerns can be assured of that," he said.
"Secondly, can I say that it was never the intention at any time to introduce this before January 1st, so we have time in which to come up with a creative solution which will address this issue to a greater extent than we've been able to do on the basis of the Budget."
Mr Cowen said any solution would need to involve other savings in the Department of Heath in order to respect the "broad parameters and arithmetic" of the Budget.
"We've had an automatic entitlement introduced in 2001 which has escalated very, very considerably in terms of cost. And where you have depleting resources, where you have fewer resources coming into the State in terms of exchequer returns, you have to target it at those in areas of most need. And in relation to this scheme, that's what we've been trying to do," he said.
"Now, in relation to it specifically, I said last Friday on the nine o'clock news that I'm working very hard to see in what way we can come up with a solution to the problem, and I need some time and space in which to do that, in a way which respects the broad parameters of the Budget arithmetic. And we have to recognise that that has to be respected as well."
When asked whether there would be a change in the eligibility thresholds for medical cards, Mr Cowen said: "Depending on the savings which can be identified, the problem will be to what extent will the eligibility criteria be extended over what has been proposed. That has to be finalised on the basis of the expenditure and savings being found."
Mr Cowen signalled, however, that universal access to medical cards for the over-70s was not sustainable and that some form of means test will remain when a new proposal is finalised.
"I think on the question of eligibility criteria, it seems to me if you have an unsustainable scheme on the basis [of] it being universally applicable regardless of income, you have to revisit it . . . More than likely, there will be a means test, yes, it will be a means-tested scheme. It was always a means-tested scheme, up until 2001.
"In the good times, we were able to do that [provide universal access] and I can show many other things we did to the advantage of people. But this particular scheme is not sustainable in its present form and I've been making the point that, as of Friday last, if we change the fee structure, we can change the way the scheme is set out, then we can, of course, make changes which will be of benefit to more people."
On the issue of Wicklow TD Joe Behan's resignation from the party over the medical cards issue, Mr Cowen said he would have preferred if the deputy sought to resolve the issue within the parliamentary party. "I was disappointed that any member of the party at any level, but particularly a parliamentary member, would take such an irreversible decision without sitting down and having a chat about it and seeing what were our intentions in terms of dealing with it, because it has to be said that all of our parliamentary members are taking on board comments from the public on this issue. No one has a monopoly of concern here," he said.
Mr Cowen also signalled that the Government may reconsider the decision to impose a 1 per cent income levy on low-income workers who, up to now, have been outside the tax net.
"In the spirit of social partnership, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions spoke to me about that during the week and the Government will consider that on Tuesday morning. But I would make an important point, that everyone has to make a contribution to the situation we're in. And obviously, proportionately, those on higher incomes are paying proportionately more," Mr Cowen said.
When asked whether it would have been fairer to introduce higher income taxes for the better-off, Mr Cowen said such a move could put many people's jobs at risk.
A levy, he said, was fairer as it was based on gross income and high-income earners would not be able to avoid it through tax shelters and other tax-avoidance measures. "We have to make decisions that don't put a further imposition which puts at risk the very jobs of those people you're trying to protect, whereas the levy - a simple and comprehensive concept, and one introduced in 1993 by the Fianna Fáil/Labour government when there were exceptional circumstances - is a method which has been used before as an exceptional measure."
Despite the pressure the coalition is under, Mr Cowen also insisted the Government would serve its full term of office.
"I intend to work for as long as our term lasts . . . We have to get on with the job - this is a difficult job, but it's a job that has to be done. The job that we're trying to do is to say to people, look, we're in a new economic situation, we have to cut our cloth to our measure.
"We're not near that point yet, but we're trying to stabilise the situation in the first term. I know it's difficult after having 10 or 12 years of unprecedented and unparalleled growth in this economy.
"There is a new situation economically worldwide and in Europe, which is also heading into recession. We have to deal with that and we have to be prepared to discharge our duty as government, even if, in the short term, it doesn't make us very popular."
