Ms Laura Magahy:

It would not have been clear from the budget yesterday but I have the detail here. The more detailed announcement on the details of health spending was at noon today, so we are all missing that now. Regarding GPs, there will be access to 136,000 additional diagnostic tests in 2021 and the medical card eligibility will be extended to those aged over 70 years, with 56,000 people benefiting from that measure. From November 2020, there will be a reduction in prescription charges for those aged over 70 by 50 cent to €1 per item, and by 50 cent to €1.50 per item for those aged under 70. That will benefit about 1.5 million people who have medical card eligibility. It is heading close to the original recommendations the Deputy and her colleagues made in their report to the Oireachtas, so that is good.

Moving to the drug payment scheme, there is a reduction in the threshold, from €124 to €114 per month, which will benefit the approximately 1.38 million people who are registered on the scheme. We are not there fully, but we are getting there in respect of costs being removed as a barrier. What is really important for the next stage, within the context of community healthcare networks, is that we will be able to plan and look at how people move between hospitals and the community. The eligibility roadmap must be looked at in that context. There are some oddities in that regard, for example, someone with a medical card will be entitled to services in primary care, whereas people without a medical card might be referred to an outpatient waiting list. We need to streamline existing eligibility and ensure the kinks are ironed out of that system. The next stage will be to ensure that everybody has fair access to services.