Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government has made clear its commitment to delivering on the implementation of a GP service for the entire population as part of the move to universal health care.

Everybody understands, however, that a medical card system that costs over €2 billion a year and where 42% of the population holds a medical card needs to be reviewed periodically. In 2013 alone, the Health Service Executive awarded 100,000 medical cards of which over 23,000 are on a discretionary basis.

The Minister also did a review and an analysis of the medical cards removed from people and it might be interesting, now that the battle on the streets is over, to hear the actual facts.

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