There is no doubt that yesterday's budget places a disproportionate burden on older people in our society and targets them in a savage way. It seems the cuts were designed to target older people when they are most vulnerable, when they are sick, bereaved or living alone. In 2008 the Taoiseach made a statement in this House on how the Government should behave towards older people. He said it should not "use the elderly as a tool or weapon, reducing them to economic statistics." I quote:

Elderly people do not want to be pressurised about means tests and application forms or have to worry about their property, their savings, what they have in the bank, whether a man from Government will call to their home or if they will lose their right to the medical card. They do not want that. They are anxious about what might happen to themselves and their families.

Yesterday's budget sums up everything the Taoiseach said older people did not want from a Government. It includes the unacceptable abolition of the telephone allowance, the definite withdrawal of 35,000 medical cards from people over 70 and the wider witch hunt of another approximately 100,000 medical cards that will be taken from people. It has already started. The letters withdrawing medical cards from people are being issued so savings can take effect from January. Anyone listening to Joe Duffy's "Liveline" during the week would have heard those letters read out.

The five-fold increase in prescription charges over the last two years will hit older people significantly. The doubling of property tax will hit older people. The reduction of tax relief on health insurance and the abolition of the bereavement grant are all targeted at older people. Added up it represents a very savage attack and targeting of older people in our community. Why, in this particular budget, did the Taoiseach single out older people for particular targeting and discriminatory treatment? What did the older people of Ireland ever do to the Taoiseach to deserve such treatment? Will the Taoiseach commit to reversing these cuts, particularly the abolition of the telephone allowance and the definite withdrawal of 35,000 medical cards from the over-70s?

The budget for 2014 is the first and critical step that will allow this country to exit the bailout programme into which Fianna Fáil led us. It is designed to get this country back to work, which is the central mandate given to this Government of Fine Gael and the Labour Party. Yesterday's budget contains a series of measures to deal with that. Deputy Martin mentioned a number of issues that affect older people. Budget 2014 has extended the principle of previous budgets of protecting and supporting the elderly in a great number of ways.

The Government has a funny way of doing it.

For example, the State pensions, carers schemes, free travel and free television licences have not been touched. Because we recognise that fuel is a major issue for the elderly the fuel allowance has not been changed and excise duty on fuel has been left untouched. The tax treatment of the elderly remains unchanged. There is no change in the net income for pensioners as a result of this budget.

That is not true.

The property tax.

Those aged 65 and older will continue to be treated more favourably under the Irish income tax code than all other taxpayers. This favourable treatment of pensioners has been protected by the budget. The question of the bereavement grant was raised. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, dealt with that very adequately yesterday. The allowances to support our elderly continue and are untouched despite the decision on the bereavement grant. The average cost of a funeral is between €3,000 and €5,000 around the country and up to €10,000 in Dublin.

Deputy Martin is well aware of the position on medical cards. When a card is issued to an applicant that card is issued for three or four years and there is an onus and duty on the recipient of the card to notify the HSE of any change in his or her circumstances. It rarely applies. In an analysis last year of 1.2 million cards 22 were returned voluntarily. There has been no change in the eligibility criteria for medical cards.

There has been.

A pensioner who receives the old age pension, contributory or non-contributory, or has the changed limits here, is fully entitled to a medical card and will get it in accordance with those criteria.

Of the 1.8 million cards issued, more than ever before, people are paying for these cards. Some people have died, some cards are redundant because people's incomes have changed and they have moved up, some people are migrant workers who have returned to their own countries and others are not eligible for one reason or another. There is a need for the HSE to communicate to pensioners in particular that when they receive a review notice there is no point in not dealing with it because anybody who meets these criteria will get their medical card. Doctors who are in receipt of payment for the general medical services, GMS, medical card lists, find that significant numbers of these cases may no longer be eligible for cards for the reasons I mentioned so it is important to check those accurately and see how many cards are still viable. There has been no change in the criteria or eligibility.

There has been.

There has been.

What about the over-70s?

There has not been. Everybody who is entitled to a medical card under those criteria receives one. We should not send scare messages to pensioners that all these medical cards are being taken away. Some 1.8 million medical cards have been issued. When the new eligibility limits and the threshold limits for GP cards are issued 97% of people over 70 years of age will have access either to medical cards or free GP cards.

Older people who might be watching this morning will find the Taoiseach's response incredible because he has managed to say black is white. He just said there is no change in the eligibility threshold. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton announced that reduced income thresholds for the over-70s medical cards are €900 for a couple and €500 for a single person.

I acknowledge that.

That is a reduction in eligibility which will withdraw medical cards from 35,000 older people. The Taoiseach should not come in and say-----

I accept that.

The Taoiseach did not say that. A moment ago he said the opposite of that. That is why older people watching will be asking what is going on in this place when someone can stand up and say we should not bother with the fine print in the budget because what that says is not happening.

That was the hallmark of yesterday's presentation.

Thank God, the Taoiseach did not touch the fuel allowance because when he did that last year, he reduced the claim period from 32 weeks to 26. He said earlier that the income of older people would not be hit.

A question, please.

That denies reality. The property tax will be doubled and that will hit their income. The medical card changes will also hit people's income. The prescription charge has gone from 50 cent to €2.50. People will have to pay this and it will reduce their income.

May we have a question, please?

The Government promotes the broad big lie that there are no cuts to the headline rates, but if we add everything else up, there is a significant reduction in the take home income of older people. The Government is taking money from them via the back door, as the Taoiseach should acknowledge. When people watch and see reality denied on an ongoing basis, they lose all faith in this House in terms of its credibility.

The same happened last week in the case of discretionary medical cards.

Fianna Fáil took the medical cards from all of them.

The Taoiseach denied last week that discretionary medical cards were being taken from people.

We are over time.

It took a host of letters from Deputies and the message from the Taoiseach's people at the weekend that there was a problem with discretionary medical cards, despite his denial last week. Therefore, people have been hit. Will the Taoiseach consider reversing the abolition of household benefits, which is a direct hit on the income of older people? Will he also reverse the decision to lower the thresholds for medical cards for the over-70s?

Of course, I acknowledge that the budgetary resolutions went through yesterday and that the changes made at the highest level will apply. However, I repeat that the State pension, the carers' schemes, the free travel scheme and the free television licence scheme have not been touched. The fuel allowance has not been changed.

The telephone allowance has.

There is no change in the net income of pensioners as a result of this budget, unlike what Fianna Fáil did when it cut the widow's pension, blind pension and invalidity pension by over €8 a week in budget 2010 for people under 65 years.

Answer the question on this budget. Can the Taoiseach stand over it?

Fianna Fáil also cut the disability allowance across the board by €8 a week, without regard to means testing.

Freagair an cheist.

Fianna Fáil also cut core social welfare rates by €16 per week or 8% in budgets 2010 and 2011 without discussion. At least this Fine Gael-Labour Party Government has maintained core social welfare rates. I remind the Deputy that Fianna Fáil's four year plan which he is now disregarding intended to cut €1.5 billion from social welfare services. Therefore, the Deputy should not come in here the morning after the budget was announced with the opportunistic blather he goes on with all the time.

Answer the question asked.

This is about the Government's budget.

Please, there is no point in shouting each other down.

In respect of medical cards, it is important that we find out the true position on how many medical cards are redundant, how many migrant workers have left the country, how many medical card holders have died-----

That is not the issue in the case of those over 70 years. The issue has to do with the reduction in the thresholds.

The Deputy had his say.

The Deputy never listens. The point is that taxpayers are paying doctors for medical card services in respect of the GMS list. That is normal, as it should be, but the lists should be accurate. The reason for carrying out an analysis is to find out the truth about how many of those whose medical cards are still on the list have died -----

Do the Taoiseach and his colleagues not go to funerals? They know who is dead, do they not?

----- how many migrant workers have gone away, how many medical cards are redundant, how many people have moved and where numbers have increased. The message on medical card applicants is that the eligibility limits apply in the ordinary way for the majority and that they qualify for full medical cards. Those at the top end who lose full medical cards qualify for GP cards.

Medical cards are being taken from people all over the place.

Not as many as were taken in Fianna Fáil's time.

Settle down Deputies.