I thank Deputy Cullinane for bringing forward this motion. The value of blister packs is far beyond the monetary cost of the plastic. They provide independence, confidence, reassurance and safety for patients and their families. They bring reassurance that patients will be safe and will be able to manage their own medication. Last week's announcement has had an impact on many people across the State. It has caused huge frustration and anxiety. Numerous people have contacted my office. A good example was an elderly couple in their early 90s. They know the value of blister packs. When the lady did not have a blister pack, she overmedicated, took the wrong medication and ended up in the emergency department at huge cost to the health services and the State. It knocked her confidence in her ability to stay at home, which she can do with the aid of blister packs. I listened to the Minister on the radio at the weekend and read her press statement. We should not be in this position at all. She will say, no doubt, that it is a complicated system that contains anomalies and that some people were drawing down different funding streams that were not intended for this use. However, the reality is that she has caused major anxiety among a vulnerable population. She has provided no reassurance in her public utterances since then. She needs to act on this Sinn Féin motion and get to the negotiating table, if that is what it takes. Under no circumstances can we stand over a situation where in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis additional costs are being heaped on vulnerable people and putting them at medical risk. It is totally unacceptable.

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