Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Curran makes a valid point. We can have perverse situations whereby someone gets an increase in pay or in a welfare payment and as a result loses entitlement to a medical card or a grant and then, in net terms, ends up worse off. Overall, of course, people are better off but we can have individual cases where people end up worse off.

The income limits are under review. They do not have to be done on budget day; they can be done during the year. For example, in March the income limit for the general practitioner visit card will increase by €25 per week per adult. That is a far greater increase than people would have got from the minimum wage increases or welfare changes. A similar commitment is made for the medical card for pensioners. The idea is that pensioners would not lose the medical card because of a €5 per week increase in the pension. The short answer is "Yes", but it is not necessarily all done on budget day.

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