Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. The Minister of State with responsibility for this matter, Deputy White, the Minister for Health and I asked that that be done at a meeting we attended in the past month or two. I take Deputy Kirk's comments on board, but stress is inevitable in the circumstances that he outlined. It is a by-product of being extremely unwell. However, we could never move to a situation in which someone would be issued a medical card just on the basis of a telephone call. Confirmation of the condition by a medical consultant or doctor is required. The application could be made at a later stage. This is as much as one could possibly hope for in such circumstances. It would not be possible to grant a card on the basis of a telephone call alone.

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