Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

Can the Minister of State assure the House that some of the delays were not intentional in terms of trying to address budgetary problems in place in the HSE? Many people are of the belief that medical card renewals were being delayed for a long time to ensure they could come in within budget. When we consider how fast they have been able to address the backlog in January and February of this year it would lead one to believe there was a deliberate winding down of assessment, processing and renewal of medical cards. We have had several cases where people waiting for a renewal of their medical card had to fund their own medical needs in the intervening period. Will those people be fully recompensed for the cost incurred while they were waiting for the renewal in 2011?

In terms of communications, every Deputy in the House has been raising this issue for a long time and I acknowledge the efforts being made by the Department and the HSE but when Deputies raise these issues on a continual basis the HSE should respond with haste in trying to address them because there are still terrible cases across the country, not just those I have raised.

With regard to the 15 day turnaround for completed forms, the main problem is that it takes too long for the applicants to be informed that their application is not complete. That area must be addressed. The form should be assessed and the applicant informed quickly of the required information needed to make the application form complete.

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