Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On that point, regarding the challenge for many people who are seriously ill, I will give the Minister an example. One person with long Covid-19 is on oxygen 24 hours a day. His medical card is running out. He has been asked to get bank statements and information in respect of his income. He needs to get a letter from his doctor and this means trying to visit his doctor. It is also necessary to try to get letters from the consultants and so on. This is a man who is on oxygen 24 hours a day. He has to get a taxi everywhere and he must pay for the cost. This is just one example of someone who is seriously ill and is trying to comply with the challenges he has been faced with in dealing with the system. This man has tried everywhere in respect of his application. In many instances, when people are ringing hospitals and trying to get letters etc., it is not possible to get through. There is not even a system for us as elected representatives to assist. If we could get those letters, then we could put them in the system. Even trying to go online to upload documents is a challenge in itself for many people, especially for those seriously ill. If it were possible to have a system that would simplify this process, then we would all be very supportive of it.