Deputy Ó Caoláin for another question.

The Taoiseach has published Estimates which break his pre-election commitment to extend medical card cover to a further 200,000 people. There are sick people who are denied proper medical treatment because of this. Today is United Nations Day of the Child and there are many parents who make huge sacrifices even to bring their child to the family doctor. Is the Taoiseach aware that the Department of Health and Children says there will be no new beds opened in 2003 and that in his own health strategy there was a commitment to provide 3,000 new beds over a ten-year period? Has the Taoiseach also noticed that the cost of medicines has increased? Will he tell the House if the health strategy has now been abandoned to all intents and purposes and is no longer relevant to this Government?

I am aware that today is the United Nations Day of the Child. The Deputy asks if we are concerned about these matters and I say we are. That is why this Government has trebled the amount payable for child benefit. The incidence of child poverty has been halved because of our policies. A sum of €40 million capital is being provided to increase the high support special care children's services and to be used in a range of other services such as foster care and family support services. We will continue to do that.

The Minister for Health and Children has made it very clear that he will continue to implement the health strategy. This year he has delivered on bed numbers. He will deliver on 109 more next year. He has provided capital funds of more than €500 million for next year for further improvements in infrastructure. I supplied a list yesterday. I do not need to give it again to Deputy Ó Caoláin.

We would have liked to be able to extend the provision of medical cards and it is still our wish. We extended the medical card scheme to the over 70s because it is necessary to look after the vast majority of the elderly who are in need. Surveys have shown that those who are not in need tend not to use the medical card anyway. It is a costly scheme—

The Government knew what the cost was.

—and we need €230 million extra this year just to maintain the 31% of the population who have medical cards without improving the service. The Deputy will accept that the general medical services scheme is a good but costly scheme. There is no point in extending the scheme before protecting the most vulnerable and that is what we are endeavouring to do. When resources permit, we will honour our commitment to improve the scheme but for the present we must ensure that we can pay for the service that is already in place.