Mr. John Hennessy:

Can I give the Deputy the example of the over 70s group? There are 370,000 over 70s holding medical cards, the majority of that cohort of the population. The number of people selected for review in light of the budgetary changes to the guidelines this year was 60,000. This was done in liaison with the Revenue Commissioners in an attempt to target the acknowledged higher income households. The majority of the 370,000 holders have heard nothing from us and continue to use their cards as normal