Worse still, he acknowledges that his child is holding up a bed in Crumlin hospital. I was also told of another child, who happens to be related to me - a newborn baby - that has been waiting for ten days to get into Crumlin hospital. The actions of the PCRS in refusing medical cards has a wide effect. Young children and babies are being affected and cannot get into Crumlin hospital, because the PCRS is denying somebody else a medical card.

During the recess our party lost two former Members of the Oireachtas, the late Denis Foley and the late Noel Davern. Mr. Foley was a Member of the Oireachtas for 21 years, including a term in this House. Mr. Daven was a former Deputy, Minister and MEP. I extend my sympathy to their families. Denis Foley was a very good friend of mine and we were colleagues on Kerry County Council for many years. He was an outstanding public representative who did great work for people. He was popular on all sides of the political divide, as was evidenced by the huge turnout at his removal, funeral mass and burial in Tralee last week. Suitable arrangements will be made for tributes to be paid to him in both Houses in due course. In the meantime, however, I want to extend my personal sympathy to his wife Anna, his son Billy, his daughters Councillor Norma, Margaret and Denise. Ar Dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

As regards the property tax, from my training in business I have always believed in paying a bill as soon as I got it, otherwise one is forever paying it. I went online to pay my property tax and as I clicked off on the credit card I said to myself that was a very short year. I think I am computer literate but I did not see the catch when signing off on it. Many people like me did the right thing, although I am not seeking any credit for that. It is a huge disincentive for me to start paying bills promptly in future, which is bad for the country. People who did pay online should get some form of tax credit against their tax liability for the coming year.