Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity of raising this very important issue. I welcome the changes the Government announced recently to improve the medical card system to make it fairer and ensure people with terminal illnesses will not be subject to review of their medical cards, which is very welcome. I seek to raise a number of issues that my constituents are having with the processing of their medical card applications by the primary care reimbursement service, PCRS. Like many Deputies, I deal with many medical card queries on behalf of my constituents. Recently, I wrote to the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, about a case in which a constituent of mine encountered serious problems with her application and the information that PCRS received. While I am aware that the issue does not fall under the Minister's direct responsibility, as it is a matter for the HSE, it is very important that he be kept up to date with what is happening on the ground, and he needs to take an active interest in what is happening in the PCRS.

I am concerned that some constituents have reported submitting the same documents, including application forms and medical forms, up to five times, with the PCRS stating it has no record of receiving any application. I am asking constituents to send the information by registered post to ensure the PCRS can confirm it has received the applications. The fact that information is being mislaid is very frustrating, particularly for ill or elderly constituents. They must go through the bureaucracy of pulling together an application. Having to do it a second, third and fourth time is embarrassing and shows up a very dysfunctional system which does not work. If the PCRS is saying An Post is not delivering the post, what investigation has it been seeking? If the difficulty is within the PCRS, what is it doing about it? There seems to be no issue with information leaving the building, given that constituents are receiving letters with updates on their applications. There is a major privacy and data protection issue. If private and personal information about people's bank accounts and medical histories falls into the wrong hands, it could open the door to abuse and identity fraud.

A constituent who wanted to renew her medical card in March 2014 sent in everything except her bank statements. When she contacted the PCRS in April for an update on the status of her card, she was advised that no documents had been received with the renewal application, although she had stapled them to the application. She had to resend all her documents, including a second copy of her private and confidential medical report, which costs €15 each time she requests it from her doctor. In July, she contacted the HSE and was told that while some of her documents had been received, the bank statements and medical report had still not been received, although she had sent them in the same envelope. Her doctor is, naturally, concerned about her private medical information going astray, as well as her confidential bank statements possibly lying around somewhere, where somebody can read it. Recently, two members of PCRS staff told her that all her documents had been received, including her bank statements. A week later, another staff member told her no bank statements had been received and that her medical card had been revoked. There are major issues, and this is just one example.

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