Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this issue.

The Ombudsman found that the HSE had discriminated against a mother and her child who had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, and criticised the failure of the executive to ensure a uniform approach to the administration of the long-term illness card scheme. In his first major finding since taking over in December the new Ombudsman, Mr. Peter Tyndall, ordered the HSE to pay the mother of a child who had lodged a complaint €3,000 to refund the costs she had incurred in purchasing medicines. He also made a ruling in regard to children in general concerning the long-term illness card benefit for those with ADHD. He found that a child with ADHD and autism had been discriminated against on the basis of geography. The child's mother took the case to the Ombudsman, complaining that her son was being discriminated against because he lived in Wexford. She maintained that if he had lived elsewhere, she would have received a card.

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