Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

What I am going to ask the Taoiseach for is very sensible and sound and I am sure everyone in this House will agree with it. When a person receives a diagnosis of cancer, I humbly ask him, the Minister for Health and the Department of Health that for a three-month period an emergency medical card would be given to that person. This was the case in the past. It was not a law or a rule, but unofficially the diagnosis of cancer equalled a medical card for a period of time to allow the person and their family to come to grips with the enormity of what they were facing in their lives. I think we should look at it again.

At this time the message should go out from here to our hospitals to allow a proper phased reintroduction of visits to people who are suffering from illnesses like cancer in our hospitals because they desperately want their visitors to come in. I would be very anxious for the Taoiseach to help.

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