Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am glad the Deputy has raised the issue because she understands it well given she was centrally involved in the review system and what we were going to do with primary care. I will not use the official script because she understands the issue so well.

The income limits involved are €500 per week for a single person and €900 for a couple. Nine out of ten people aged over 70 have either a GP only card or a medical card. I am glad the Deputy raised the question of access to other services and the passport into other services. We are examining how to separate access to community services, which the Deputy was involved in at the time. This is where we need to go to develop a proper community-based primary care system that does not require someone to have that passport in order that if someone needs access to a community service, it should be available or if he or she needs medical aids or appliances, they are available. Access to physiotherapy, including intensive rehabilitation, and so on should not be dependent on having a medical card.

Nine out of every ten people aged over 70 has access to a GP free of charge and their drugs bill is only €33 a week. The Deputy is correct that at this stage in life, people will more than likely have a chronic condition, even though people are living longer and are healthier, but they can still apply for a discretionary medical card where all the circumstances she outlined are taken into account and they will be treated in the same way. If one's needs are such that one cannot provide for oneself in respect of medical bills, one will be looked on favourably for a discretionary card. In reforming the system, we need to take a serious look at how people access the services they need because it is not always about access to a GP or drugs, it is also about access to community care services. That is what we need to build up and that is what we are doing now.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and I am glad it is her who did because she understands it perfectly.

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