Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be able to speak to this very important Bill. I have been in constant contact with my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, since he first announced last year that he would be bringing this Bill before the House. It will provide all children in receipt of domiciliary care allowance an automatic entitlement to a full medical card. There will now be a clear entitlement for those children to a full medical card. The Bill will also reduce prescription charges for medical card holders who are aged over 70 years and also for their dependants.

On numerous occasions in the past I have said in this House and in the media that I firmly believe that any child in receipt of domiciliary care allowance must get a medical card automatically and without delay. I am in constant contact with my constituents from all over County Louth and I assure Deputies that the introduction of this legislation will be a huge relief for them. They will no longer have to go through the whole means tested route in order to get a medical card to which they should be entitled. The whole application process of providing family financial information, expert and medical reports and additional supporting information was, and is, a terrible burden on parents when all they were seeking was a medical card for their child. It beggars belief that up to now a child could receive domiciliary care allowance but in some cases was refused a medical card.

I will now turn to the current application process for a medical card. The system is too cumbersome and bureaucratic. It is one of the issues that my constituency office in Dundalk spends most time dealing with. The application process takes far too long. I also have many difficulties with the procedure of assessing medical evidence. I have lost count of the number of times an application has been refused yet is granted on appeal. This extra time is another period of worry and stress for the applicant, when it is clear from the medical evidence provided that the person is entitled to a medical card. I know that in the past the Minister has raised questions around the process and he has stated publicly that there are limitations to the system. He has also stated that the Committee on the Future of Healthcare will examine the matter and will play a key role in any future changes to the system. I hope the Minister will look at this aspect of the medical card process and that in the near future we will see a simpler and more transparent system of assessing medical card applications.

I was amazed to find out that currently one in three children in receipt of domiciliary care allowance does not hold a medical card. How could this have been allowed to happen for so long? It is not right that these children were not automatically given a medical card. In my constituency work in Louth I, like many of my colleagues, see on a daily basis the challenges faced by parents in looking after a child with a severe disability. I agree with my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, when he said recently that in many cases parents who applied for domiciliary care allowance had never before requested help from the State for their child or children. It is important that we recognise this fact and make people aware of the sacrifices these families make on a daily basis. We must fully support parents of children with disabilities in order that they can access the services required to ensure their quality of life is improved.

We must use an improving economy and the improving tax receipts to benefit all in society. Some 12 months ago the electorate told Deputies that we must improve public services as a priority. We must invest more in the health, education and social welfare systems. I believe people would prefer to see increased spending on public services as opposed to tax cuts. These extra resources must be spent on those who need it most. I am particularly pleased this measure is finally getting approval from the House. There is no doubt that those children and their families who are in receipt of domiciliary care allowance not only deserve a full medical card but should always have been automatically entitled to it.

I am delighted that the Minister has brought this Bill to the House but I hope this is only the start of new measures. I would like to see a more simplified process introduced for medical card applications, particularly for those with strong medical evidence to back up their claim.

I will outline the main features of the Bill for the benefit of those who have been following this topic. The Health (Amendment) Bill 2017 will provide all 33,000 children who are in receipt of domiciliary care allowance full eligibility to a medical card. Parents will be able to apply for medical cards on behalf of the child or children from 1 May 2017 and the medical card will be available to use from the 1 June 2017. With regard to changes to prescription charges the Bill will reduce the cost of a prescription from €2.50 to €2 per item and will cap the monthly amount at €20, which was previously €25. This reduction was introduced on 1 March and will benefit 390,000 people.

I had the pleasure of welcoming the Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, to the Louth County Hospital in August 2016. The Minister was very impressed with the hospital, its staff and the services it provides to the community. During that visit the Minister indicated that he intended making the minor injuries unit accessible to all children over the age of six years. Currently the unit will only treat children aged 14 years and over. Perhaps the Minister will confirm a timeframe for this change which would allow all children over the age of six years to be treated in the minor injuries unit at Louth County Hospital.

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