Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the time the Minister has taken to address this issue in the Chamber. I am familiar, as every Member and public representative is, with the processes involved in appealing a medical card decision. A situation I encountered recently with a constituent has shone a light on some of the inadequacies of this process. The Department of Social Protection deals efficiently with providing details of why a welfare payment has been refused. The HSE and the Department of Health need to be informed by this approach. It is beyond me as to why, in this day and age, a citizen would need to institute a freedom of information request as to why he or she was refused a medical card. I do not believe it is fair or humane. It is not a practice over which we can continue to stand. It is important that this issue is addressed in terms of transparency, openness and fairness.

It is bizarre the HSE has not learned lessons from the past. While I accept it is improving in many respects, along with interacting with the public, it still needs to be understanding of personal circumstances and provide basic information to applicants who have been refused a medical card. The HSE has been less clear on refusals due to illnesses or disabilities. I hope the Minister of State, with his progressive reform agenda, will deal with some of these bureaucratic inadequacies in the HSE, which will go a long way to inspire more confidence in the organisation.

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