John Kelly (Labour)

I acknowledge that we are going through a financial crisis but there is one good deed the Minister could achieve in the forthcoming budget. It would not cost much. He should grant medical cards to cancer patients without their having to go through a rigorous means test. From years of experience as a community welfare officer I know that general practitioners wrongly advise cancer patients they have an automatic entitlement to a medical card only for them to be told by a welfare officer that a means test is required. Ultimately, most are granted on discretionary grounds but I would like the Minister to legislate for all. Community welfare officers never wanted to have to ask very sick people how many hens they had and how many eggs they laid.