Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for her replies to the various queries raised on this section earlier. Will the Minister clarify a matter on the administrative side? The Minister appears to be suggesting that the system is already set up to capture a significant amount of data and that there will be no difficulty incorporating these new expenses and costs into this data system. Will the Minister clarify if this is the case?

I refer to cases involving long-term illness cards. The Minister indicated anyone with a long-term illness card will be exempt. Will the Minister comment on the position of cases of palliative care and whether they would qualify as one of the exceptions? I assume people with cancer would be covered if they have a long-term illness card but not otherwise. Will the Minister clarify this? Some confusion has arisen of late with regard the position of people suffering from cancer and medical cards. There have been situations in which many such people had access to medical cards but that appears to be changing at the moment.

The Bill gives the Minister powers to introduce extra charges. It is effectively a carte blanche to introduce extra charges. The Minister referred to the range of criteria she would use to do so. This can work either way. The Minister can exempt people who have a particular medical condition or disability or the medical needs of persons of that class. Will the Minister indicate what lines 46 and 47 mean exactly? They refer to one of the criteria the Minister may use.

The Minister can also use the criteria of medical needs and the financial burden on the persons who avail themselves of services under subsection (1), which is rather wide. It seems to give the Minister wide powers to increase charges arbitrarily and to exclude certain groups. Will the Minister address how she intends to proceed in this regard? How does the Minister envisage this working within the Department and what actions does she intend to take? What data would be collected to inform that decision and other decisions under subsection (4) and what criteria apply in such cases. Some of the criteria are straightforward such as the consumer price index but others are rather wide. I call on the Minister to address these issues.