Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

As the Deputy is aware, the medical card scheme generally, with the exception of the over 70s, is allocated on an administrative basis. The only legislation is to do with the over 70s which was introduced in 2002. In normal circumstances, when a person passes away, notwithstanding the fact that the income may remain the same and therefore the assessment will be different in a new set of circumstances, the cards are generally left for a period of up to one year, sometimes more. With regard to some of the cases mentioned by the Deputy I would hope it can be done on that basis.

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