What I am going to ask the Taoiseach for is very sensible and sound and I am sure everyone in this House will agree with it. When a person receives a diagnosis of cancer, I humbly ask him, the Minister for Health and the Department of Health that for a three-month period an emergency medical card would be given to that person. This was the case in the past. It was not a law or a rule, but unofficially the diagnosis of cancer equalled a medical card for a period of time to allow the person and their family to come to grips with the enormity of what they were facing in their lives. I think we should look at it again.

At this time the message should go out from here to our hospitals to allow a proper phased reintroduction of visits to people who are suffering from illnesses like cancer in our hospitals because they desperately want their visitors to come in. I would be very anxious for the Taoiseach to help.

The Department is always very reluctant to pick one condition over another condition for eligibility for medical cards. There is provision for people who get a terminal diagnosis. We are trying to reduce the cost of care for people in certain situations. We are also extending eligibility, particularly through access to a GP visit card, which, as the Deputy knows, we have for children. I understand the points he is making. As he knows, discretion has applied in many circumstances.