The one word to describe the action that the Minister and the Government have taken is "cruel". It is cruelty towards some of the most vulnerable people in this State. It is mean. Will the Minister not make a decision? Will she not stand up to whoever behind the scenes is forcing her to make this call? She should decide not to let down pensioners, the disabled or the most vulnerable. How can she justify it? She has the power. People are watching and listening to the debate. They are looking to the Minister for hope. I know she will postpone the measure for a couple of months. Is she postponing it because she will not admit that Sinn Féin is right or is she doing so because this Government is so cruel to vulnerable people? That is the question people are asking. Blister packs are important to vulnerable people. This measure will put more pressure on carers and families. It will put vulnerable people at risk. Why would the Minister do it? How can she justify standing over it? In the budget, the Government gave hundreds of millions of euro to developers and speculators. It gave millions and millions of euro to the hospitality sector. When those decisions were made, the Minister knew she was going to introduce this measure. Deputy Cullinane outlined this months ago and she still went ahead. The Government promised a budget that would deliver for people with disabilities. It promised financial support. It let those people down. Not alone did the Government let them down in respect of a cost-of-disability package, it doubled down and put extra charges on the most vulnerable. There is pressure on carers again. I do not know where the Minister and the Government are living. People are mad. They are furious. They cannot understand how the Government can give money all over the place except to the most vulnerable. A person pointed out to me the other day that before the election, the Government was full of smiles and promises. It promised to do this, that and the other. It never told the people last year that it would charge them €30, €40 or €50 for blister packs. This is another one of its broken promises and hidden taxes. It is now the bones of four years until the next election. I ask the Minister to think about the harm she is going to cause. I ask her to make a decision, stand up and decide not to charge for blister packs. People deserve them.

Sentiment score: -0.07