Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The departing Ombudsman also said that her officials' examination of complaints about the removal of discretionary cards showed "nothing substantial had changed in relation to the regulations that applied." The report went on to state the following:

In the past, in situations where a person's income was above the threshold, appeals officers looked at other factors, such as their level of illness or need for equipment or medication, she said. Now people are being denied cards where their income exceeds the limit.

In fact, that is not the case. Precisely the reason for having a discretionary medical card regime is that we are not confined to allocating medical cards to people who come within income limits. That is what a discretionary card is. If somebody comes within the income limits, they get the card. There is no issue about that. The discretionary card only goes to people who are above the limits. That is what it is for, and it is being implemented.

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