Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. To put a face on this discussion, in November last year, I raised the case of Una with the then Tánaiste. Una was a pensioner aged 66 at that time and despite working all her life, she was in receipt of a non-contributory State pension. She was refused the medical card because she receives a net income of €1 per week on top of her pension for renting out a field. Her next-door neighbour gets an extra €11 per week in the State contributory pension and qualifies for the medical card. This anomaly arises because these medical card thresholds have not been revised since 2005. The basic rate of social welfare income has gone up by €83.23 and Una and everyone like her are being denied access to a medical card for the sake of €1. This needs to be urgently addressed.

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