Dr. Laura Bambrick:

I cannot answer about employees. The extension of coverage with respect to medical cards has tended to be include the very youngest and the eldest, the over-70s. GPs cards were introduced for people with both a State pension and an occupational pension. GP cards were also introduced for under eights and moving on to the under-12s. A single person living on his or her own with an income over €184, is not eligible for a medical card. If one is on the minimum wage and one works more than 17 hours, one is not entitled to a medical card. If one earns more than €304, one is not eligible for a GP card. If one works 28 hours, long part-time hours, one is not eligible for a GP card. Hands off, we have been very good at expanding coverage but the coverage is not hitting the working population.

A big working age population is included in it but those people are outside the labour market. We hear conversations about work disincentives, such as the fear of losing a medical card because that is a gateway into many other services such as the back to school allowance, transport and so on. People are reluctant to take on work because of that expense. To drive home that point, it is not necessary to earn a great deal of money not to have primary healthcare covered in this country.