Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. Last year, I raised this issue in respect of an individual who was terminally ill and who subsequently passed away. To be fair, the system responded but the reality differs from what the Minister of State claims is occurring on the ground.

The clinical panel that assesses medical card applicants must be strict, given the rate of refusal for cancer sufferers in particular. I have been around Leinster House for 20 years and have always believed that, if one has cancer, one applies in the normal way and the service uses its discretion to grant a medical card based on medical need. That is no longer the case. For example, a woman who has had a mastectomy cannot access a medical card.

It is bizarre, to say the least, that what the Minister of State and the HSE claim is at variance with what is occurring on the ground. According to the Irish Cancer Society, many cancer patients are applying to it for support in accessing treatment. Hospitals are hunting them down for €75 every time they present for chemotherapy. There is something barbaric about this and I ask the Minister of State to consider the issue in the context of next year's service plan.

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