Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

He is. He highlighted his difficulty in navigating the medical card system. I also had a very good meeting with representatives of the Irish Cancer Society. I have asked Mr. Wall and certain other stakeholders, including the Irish Cancer Society, to meet the primary care reimbursement service, PCRS, and consider providing better patient information on how people with an illness can navigate the medical card system. We provide medical cards for persons with a terminal illness. There is an emergency medical card and a discretionary medical card that can be granted if someone has a terminal illness that is not reviewed. Currently, such cards are issued if someone has a terminal illness and is likely to live for approximately 12 months. Mr. Wall has asked me to consider, as the Deputy probably would also, people who will live for 13 months, 14 months, two years or three years. It is not an exact science; it is medicine. Thankfully, people are living longer because of medical improvements. I have committed to reviewing this issue and examining the definition of a terminal illness and how the medical card system interacts with it. These two issues relate to Mr. Wall. We are due to meet again at the end of November. I will keep the Deputy updated in that regard.