Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Under the provisions of the Health Act 1970, eligibility for health services in Ireland is based primarily on residency and means. There are two categories of eligibility for all persons ordinarily resident in Ireland, those being, full eligibility, which relates to the medical card, and limited eligibility, which applies to everyone else. Full eligibility is determined mainly by reference to income limits and is granted to persons who, in the opinion of the HSE, are unable to provide general practitioner, GP, medical and surgical services to themselves and their dependants without undue hardship.

There is no automatic entitlement to a medical card for persons who have cancer. There is a provision for discretion to grant a card in cases of "undue hardship" where the income guidelines are exceeded. Recently, the HSE set up a clinical panel to assist in the processing of applications for discretionary medical cards where there are difficult personal circumstances.

There is an emergency process for a person who is terminally ill or in urgent need of medical attention and cannot afford to pay for it that provides a card within 24 hours while the normal application process is being completed. Details of this procedure have been made available to all GPs and social workers. Such applications can be initiated through the local health offices, whose managers have access to a dedicated fax and e-mail contact line to the Primary Care Reimbursement Service, PCRS. Once the medical condition is verified by a GP or a consultant and the required personal details are provided, an emergency card is issued to that person for a six-month period. No means test applies to an application in the case of a terminally ill patient.

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