Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy and I welcome and acknowledge his comments about staff in the medical card section. As well as being a Minister of State, I am a constituency Deputy like Deputy Healy, and I often have occasion to deal with the staff in the medical card section who I find unfailingly courteous, obliging, helpful and responsive. I also note what the Deputy told me. According to the HSE, 95% of all completed applications are processed within 15 days. The Deputy is talking about incomplete applications. As a constituency Deputy, I appreciate that he is saying the application forms are difficult and often incomplete when submitted. Information is sometimes missing and has to be requested, as the Deputy highlighted.

I will check with the HSE the issue the Deputy brought to my attention. I absolutely respect his bona fides and I know he has no desire to make anything up or highlight the matter for the sake of it. The Deputy is a politician with a democratic mandate and if he or people in his office say they are experiencing delays, I have no doubt they are being experienced. I will check the matter with the HSE. The Deputy's comments were the first I heard about a two-week delay or staff advising that they are only dealing with information submitted on 9 November. That is news to me. As the Deputy will appreciate, when scripts are being prepared, we do not know what details Deputies will raise. He is around the House long enough to understand that. I will examine the issue with the HSE and convey the Deputy's concerns to the medical card processing unit. I thank him again for raising the matter as it is what we are all here for.

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