Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Determination of eligibility is dealt with on page 5 of the report. The Accounting Officer for the Department of Health outlined "the HSE uses its discretion to grant a medical card to a person who is unable without undue hardship to arrange a GP service..." We should be careful when we are dealing with one report that we do not to an extent contradict recommendations made in another. Unfortunately, Deputy Shane Ross has left, but he referred to the discretionary powers available to the Garda. The appropriate body, in the case of medical cards, is the HSE which uses its discretion where normally a medical card would not be available on the grounds of cost. If we are discussing the question of how the Garda operates in exercising discretion, whatever recommendations we make in the two reports should not vary to the extent that there would be a degree of contradiction. Sergeant McCabe did not criticise the discretionary powers of the Garda.

We did insert powers but not in relation to the operation of discretion in the main by gardaí. It is not appropriate to come down with a heavy-handed approach on that area and at the same time acknowledge that discretion on the part of the HSE is a very valuable instrument in terms of ensuring that people in need of medical cards receive them. I point out the possibility that we could produce an anomaly in the manner in which introduce our reports.