Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

With respect, if the Minister of State's reply was the case, we would not need to be here, raising this with him. He outlined and highlighted a process. I had a constituent who was a patient in hospital with cancer, and applied through the hospital for that emergency fast-track system. That patient was told that the condition was not severe enough to allow the person to apply in this way, although it was signed off by a consultant, and that the patient should apply in the normal way. It was horrific. What about the student who was terminally ill and cannot get the paperwork in in time? Her application was closed down after three months. What should happen here, and maybe the Minister of State will discuss it with the officials, is that when an application is made for someone with long-term terminal illness such as cancer or another diagnosis, and the application is accompanied by a letter from a consultant, that should have some fast-track system to get through to get a medical card awarded. That would be instead of the painful, slow process which happens, where people who are suffering dramatically are tortured by the system for information and asked ridiculous questions and for supporting documentation for a terminal condition. It is wrong. If this was happening as the Minister of State says, we would not need to have this Topical Issue debate.

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