Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which I know she has been pursuing in the Oireachtas Committee on Health and with the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, and me. An interdepartmental "Make Work Pay" group was set up under the Government's comprehensive employment strategy for people with disabilities. This group was independently chaired by Professor Frances Ruane and I thank her for the wonderful work she did. The group's report sets out findings and recommendations, some of which deal with the potential loss of a medical card, which can act as a barrier to take-up of employment for persons with disabilities who wish to engage in work and have the capacity to do so. When that report was published, I was struck by the concern people with a disability had about losing the medical card. Be it a real or perceived concern, it was one of the biggest barriers in many cases.

The report made two principal recommendations regarding medical cards and people with disabilities. The first was to raise the medical card income disregard from its current level of €120 per week for people on disability allowance or on partial capacity benefit. I am strongly committed to the implementation of this recommendation. To that end, my Department is working with the HSE and the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection in order to assess the number of people who would stand to benefit under this measure and, most importantly, to examine the best administrative route to implementing a change in the earnings disregard. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that this work is expected to be completed shortly and it is my intention to implement the recommendation by the end of 2017.

The second recommendation was that the medical card guidelines be amended to remove a requirement that employment be of a "rehabilitative nature" in order for the associated income to be disregarded from the calculation of income when a person with a disability is being assessed for a medical card. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that this recommendation has also been accepted and is being implemented by the HSE.

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