Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being available in the House, as usual. I am a bit concerned about this because it is a question of emergency medical cards. These occur in situations where a particular life-threatening or life-changing illness has affected a family and the concerns of the family are and continue to be such that they feel they are entitled to an emergency medical card. In the case of a terminal or life-threatening illness, the families in question have enough worries and problems on their agenda without worrying as well about the possibility of running out of money.

Some might say there are enough provisions to ensure that cannot happen, but that is not so. Years ago, I dealt with a situation where a pivotal officer in the health services was eventually in a situation where the resources had run out. Along with the threat of an illness so serious that it could lead to the termination of a life, the family concerned was also going to face the problem of the loss of the family home. Those are not isolated cases.

This is the second time I have brought the same cases to the attention of the Minister of State. I know she is a very hard worker and that she genuinely and sincerely hopes that the system works as it is supposed to work. However, it is not working as it is supposed to work. The reason I know it is not working is that a person intoned to me that they had reviewed the situation and decided that the person concerned is not entitled to an emergency medical card. On what basis was that decision made? It was made on a financial basis. The decision was made on financial grounds. The whole purpose of emergency medical cards is to get around those considerations to help the people concerned. Those people were receiving emergency treatment six months ago. They expect some little help. I know this matter is safe in the Minister of State's hands. However, some other body is using something to slow the whole thing down and to make it impossible to qualify. There are financial qualification limits when the urgency of the medical situation should be and is sufficient to warrant favourable consideration. I was told in both the cases I have referred to that the situation was being reviewed but a new application would have to be made. I need to ask about that part of the matter. If the existing application is insufficient and income guidelines are the barrier to the grant of the medical card in the first instance, how will that change by making a new application? It is a theory that does not work.

This is not a criticism of the Minister or the Ministers of State. It is simply a question of challenging the concept that exists within the system whereby somebody has the neck, gall and effrontery to say to a public representative that they have reviewed the application and the applicant does not qualify. The people I am speaking of are seriously challenged by their health issues. They have enough other issues to deal with, including increases in the cost of living and the ordinary, run-of-the-mill situations of a household. On top of that, someone has arbitrarily made a decision above their heads that they cannot be helped.

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