Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue for debate. I do not want to waste too much time, but I am disappointed that the Minister or the relevant Minister of State at the Department of Health is not present. One reason for turning Adjournment debates into Topical Issue debates under the heading of Dáil reform was to ensure the relevant Minister would take the debates.

When the Minister, Deputy Reilly, came to power, he arrived with great fanfare. One of his first actions was to step down the old HSE board. He is yet to appoint a new one. As he stated himself, he has taken control of the reins and the buck stops with him. Were he present, I would ask him whether he was satisfied with the fiasco that is the medical card situation. I am not the only Deputy to raise this issue, as I am sure that Members on all sides of the House have experienced a high level of engagement with constituents in this regard. Those constituents have been frustrated with the situation since the centralisation of the application process last July. I could give example after example. On Joe Duffy's phone-in radio show today, there was an hour and a half of examples of people experiencing extreme levels of frustration and anxiety. They are sick and are only looking for their entitlements, yet they have been given excuse after excuse.

I have been contacted by a lady who applied for a medical card last August. She needed a serious operation and her card was due to expire at the end of August. We telephoned at the end of the month and were told to telephone again in September. When we did so we were told to telephone again at the end of the month. The situation went on and on until, in December, the card was extended by one month to cover her operation.

I have with me a letter to the HSE's Primary Care Reimbursement Services, PCRS, in Finglas dated 15 June 2011 regarding a medical card in the name of Mr. X. The letter referred to the appeal received on behalf of Mr. X and, as he was within the limits for a medical card for a married couple, asked the PCRS to arrange to process the medical card at its earliest convenience. Today is 26 January 2012 and the man is still awaiting his medical card. He is lucky, as his doctor facilitates him when he has his weekly check-ups, but his pharmacist has understandably refused to accept him. In another example, a single man with two children applied last September, submitted further information in October and is still awaiting a decision.

The buck stops with the Minister for Health. How does he intend to resolve this matter? It is generating unnecessary anxiety among a large number of people. On Joe Duffy's radio show today, the manager of a GP surgery spoke about the unbelievable number of forms that she must re-fill because she has been told the originals have been lost. Deputies are told that we can only make two inquiries per call. People are not allowed to submit more than one medical card application per envelope. This is lunacy. What will be done about it? Deputies from all parties will submit parliamentary questions to beat the band to get answers on the position regarding people's medical cards. This will cost more money than an efficient and effective service would. Under the Croke Park agreement, if there are not enough people working in the service, additional staff could be redeployed to it to process medical cards within 15 days. At present it is taking 15 weeks at a minimum.

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