Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will bring the Deputy's views to the relevant section immediately. As he said, we need to alleviate some of the burden on people with serious and terminal illnesses. We do as much as possible to support people with difficult illnesses, including, where appropriate, through the provision of a medical card. Every effort is made by the HSE within the framework of the legislation to support applicants in applying for a medical card and, in particular, to take full account of the difficult circumstances of applicants whose income may be in excess of that stipulated in the guidelines. In this context, it is important to acknowledge that the HSE may exercise discretion and grant a medical card, even though an applicant exceeds the income threshold, where he or she faces difficult financial circumstances such as extra costs arising from an illness.

The HSE affords applicants the opportunity to furnish supporting information and documentation to take account fully of all the relevant circumstances that may benefit them in the assessment, including medical evidence of costs and necessary expenses. We will endeavour to ensure the medical card system is responsive and sensitive to people's needs by keeping all medical card issues under review.

See this speech in context