Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government commits to a humane approach to discretionary medical cards for patients undergoing cancer treatment. The guidelines used to award discretionary cards for patients undergoing cancer treatment must be more lenient. They must be more caring. They must be patient-focused. The patient has to come first. They have to look at individual circumstances, case-by-case, as opposed to income only. I am disappointed to see that in the third last paragraph the Minister of State said: "It is nonetheless important to note that eligibility for a medical card remains primarily on the basis of financial assistance." I was contacted during the week by a woman whose dad was diagnosed with stomach cancer at 83 years of age. The man had previously applied for a medical card but unfortunately he only qualified for the doctor only card, being €20 over the weekly limit. The doctor only card was sufficient up to then but now he is 83 and has stomach cancer, so it has to change. I put the emphasis on the patient having to come first.

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