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

Let me tell the Deputy about those aged over 70 years. As of 1 September 2014, the number of people aged over 70 holding a medical card stood at 332,872, of whom 5,078 held discretionary medical cards. Some 23,542 people aged over 70 years had a general practitioner visit card on 1 September, of whom 628 held discretionary medical cards. It is not the case that the system is not working, although I accept that it needs more tweaking. We are working on the system.

The number of people with a medical card is higher than ever owing to the recession, unemployment and increased life expectancy. For this reason, we had to spread the resources available to us more thinly. People have the option of applying for a discretionary medical card and all the issues raised by the Deputy can be taken into account in the application process. Welfare officers have been instructed to help people who are applying for discretionary medical cards.

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