TRADE MISSION:THE ISSUE of the medical cards for the over-70s had "by and large, generally" been resolved and it was time to move on, Minister of State for Trade and Commerce John McGuinness told reporters yesterday.
Mr McGuinness is visiting China this week as part of a trade mission with Minister for Education and Science Batt O'Keeffe.
The two men left Shanghai for Beijing yesterday afternoon to meet with Taoiseach Brian Cowen who was travelling from Dublin to the Chinese capital to join the delegation.
"We have had this debate within our own parliamentary party. The matter has, by and large, generally been resolved and we have to move on from here," Mr McGuinness said before leaving Shanghai.
Green Party TD Ciarán Cuffe said a comment he made yesterday about the possibility of an election in four weeks' time were meant to be ironic.
Mr Cuffe said the comments were made during a "quick doorstep interview" as he went into an extraordinary general meeting of the party's councillors.
At yesterday's meeting councillors drawn from around the country raised concerns about the medical card issue, as well as about class sizes.
The convenor of the meeting councillor Caroline Burrell said the councillors wanted the retention of universality for all in the health care system.
Ms Burrell said the councillors had made no demands or threats. The purpose of the meeting was not about criticism she said, but to convey any concern that was coming from the grass roots.