Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for my having to leave the meeting earlier. Most of the relevant questions have been raised but I want to return to the question of medical cards. I agree fully with Deputy McLellan. The public, my office staff and I are totally frustrated dealing with medical cards. We have no difficulty with the HSE staff who are involved because they are as courteous and helpful as can be but the system in place is completely frustrating. For example, there is a delay of at least a fortnight in the registration of information on the system. The processing and assessment of applications by medical practitioners in the PCRS is a nightmare. Usually, an application goes into a queue to be seen by the medical practitioner and it certainly does not emerge from it for at least a month. I have encountered cases where the period was from six weeks to two months. A recent case, which I raised with Mr. Hennessy and which, I am thankful, he sorted, involved an application going into a queue for a medical practitioner on 19 February 2014 and not emerging until ten days ago. That is the position in which we find ourselves. I refer not only to public representatives but also to members of the public.

A very significant difficulty for us is that there is nobody we can consult or deal with, either face-to-face, over the telephone or by e-mail. There is nobody who has any real input into the decision-making process. That is a huge problem and needs to be addressed. The Chairman will know that I was one of the first, if not the first, to raise the issue of entitlement to discretionary medical cards on medical grounds. I raised it for two years before anyone came to realise what was happening. I hope it can be considered and solved quickly.

By any chance, has the Department or HSE even considered the question of reversing the centralisation of the processing of applications for medical cards and returning responsibility to local areas? There is a fundamental problem with the centralised PCRS.