Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The very real situation faced by people, mentioned by the Deputy, who have a long-term illness or medical condition and are above the means-test limit for a medical card, will be addressed in the new policy shift signalled by the Minister, Deputy Reilly, and the Government last week, which is based on a review by an expert panel, and a paper and decisions in Government later this year. This will address the very real issue, on which I agree with the Deputy, faced by people who, although they are above means-test limit for a medical card, have a continuing medical condition requiring access to services. That is precisely what we are doing in respect of the decision the Government has made. The Government will certainly revert to the Oireachtas in due course as to how that will be addressed. I suggest to the Deputy that will cover in large measure the issue he is raising. Rather than adding new illnesses to the LTI scheme - nothing has been added to that since 1975 - let us now look to what the Government has determined which is to see how best to incorporate into the GMS persons who although they are above the income limits, perhaps in some cases substantially above the income limits and in many cases not so much above the income limits, but still have a medical condition or illness which is a problem for them. That is the real difficulty we have been struggling with in recent months and the Government made clear decisions last week on a policy shift there.

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