Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In light of the commitments in the programme for Government regarding better public services, there is a major issue with cancer patients getting medical cards. We have been fighting for a number of cancer patients who are three or four months into their treatment in terms of getting in financial statements and documentation. Are there enough medical assessors within the medical card section to make decisions about people who have had a very serious medical diagnosis and who have provided that documentation to the medical card section to get emergency medical cards? Somebody who has received a cancer diagnosis should have an automatic entitlement to one. Moreover, such people should be allowed to provide the documentation over the next while to support it but they should be given a medical card in the short term because they are experiencing desperately serious financial difficulties.

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