The Transport Minister says the government has no idea how many people are set to lose their medical cards.
An economist at University College Cork has warned that the figure of 113 million euro to be cut from the department of health budget through a tightening of the medical card scheme would see up to 100-thousand people lose their card.
Seamus Coffey also warned that it's not possible to make the total savings of 666 million euro from the health sector as outlined in the budget.
But Leo Varadkar remains adamant that while James Reilly has his work cut out for him there is room for cuts:
