Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

How many were there last year or the year before? Has there been a decrease? The difficulty that I and everybody in the House have is that the information is not what is reflected on the ground. We seem to be in a position where it is almost impossible for people to get a medical card on discretionary grounds. It is getting more difficult, although I accept there is no automatic entitlement. If a person has contracted cancer and is going through treatment, that person would usually have got a medical card on discretionary grounds, but that is not now the case. Perhaps I am the only one with experience of such a case but listening to the debates in the House and considering parliamentary questions, there seems to be a disconnect between policy and what is happening on the ground. How many discretionary cards are there now and what was the number in previous years?