Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If the Minister for housing had been here, I would have asked a different question but since it is the Minister for Health, I will ask what is a very relevant question for many people. I recognise that a lot more people have GP cards now than was the case previously. I also recognise that with the abolition of hospital charges, the increase in the GP card threshold and the lowering of the drug refund threshold, the Minister has narrowed the financial difference for those who do not have a card. However, there is a major problem at the moment that I keep coming across which is that people who have had medical cards for years are, on review, losing those cards for a very simple reason. As has been pointed out earlier, social welfare payments, including pensions, have gone up and the minimum wage has gone up. Some might say there is not much difference, that it is only €80 but for people with young families, there are other things attached to the medical card. For older people, it is fair to say that the medical is gold dust. Are there proposals to change the income thresholds for the medical card?

See this speech in context