Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

At the risk of irritating the Deputies with repetition, it has never been the case since 1970 that the law provided for the allocation of medical cards to persons on the basis of illness. Discretion does not suggest that someone must have the card. It means that someone must apply a particular assessment to a situation. This is what we are doing. It was centralised two years ago. We have not denied the change in the numbers. There is no pretence - the numbers are the numbers. We have given all of the numbers. Indeed, I have provided numbers for 1 September to the Deputies. All of the facts are before the House, as is proper. The Deputies will also be aware that there has been a significant increase in the number of medical cards in the system generally. It must be acknowledged.

I will consider Deputy Harris's point. I do not disagree with it, but the extent to which we have information and clarity from Revenue, the HSE or otherwise to ensure that the system works is an advance, not the opposite.

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