Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response and for being open to my proposal. The proposal is not a question of changing the qualifying criteria. The criteria remain exactly the same for those who qualify and those who do not. I am proposing a change in the system and its operation that provides a better quality service to the customer who holds the medical card. A difficulty arises for people who fall out of the system and are subsequently entitled. They are penalised for this because they are not reimbursed for any medications they paid for during that period if they do not have medical card cover. The Minister of State is dead right to say that the GP monitors the overall situation but I propose bringing the pharmacists into the equation. Research in my office will show, and I am sure that it would show if the HSE were to carry out detailed research, that most people on medical cards deal with one sole pharmacist. It might be the case that when people are occasionally sick they get medication from the nearest pharmacy on the way home but most people who have an illness deal with one sole pharmacist.

What I am proposing is that they go into the notification system. In the cases I have dealt with, particularly the cases where people had changed address, they had no notification that the card would expire and so were not engaging with the system. The pharmacists might even have had the wrong address. When the person goes to pick up the prescription bag, perhaps there should be a note inside in the bag or some acknowledgement stating that the card is about to expire, outlining the details the pharmacist has and explaining that if the person does not respond, he or she will be out of the system.

What I am proposing is a very small adaptation to the system, one which improves the quality of service which the HSE is providing and which ensures that people who qualify for medical cards do not find themselves temporarily outside of cover, with costs accruing during that period for which they cannot be compensated at a later time. If a person does not have card cover and subsequently re-qualifies for the card, those costs cannot be reimbursed.

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