Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

If all the Senators had been present for the vote on the extension of the universal medical card scheme, there would have been 59 votes to my one vote. It will cost the best part of €100 million for the two schemes - the over-70s, regardless of income, and children under six, regardless of their families' income. That means that the rich get richer, yet we still give them medical cards. What would the witnesses have done with €100 million? I am an endangered species in the Seanad because when I argued for poverty alleviation it did not have an impact on the vote.