Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I appreciate the Minister is under time pressure. My question is one I could have placed by way of parliamentary question if there was such a facility n the Seanad but unfortunately there is not.

I raise the issues of medical cards, the financial guidelines in place and the deductions allowable, with particular reference to those who suffer from Alzheimer's disease. I appreciate the disease is becoming more prevalent and affects thousands of people nationally. Although a medical service of a good standard is available to most sufferers and the Minister and his officials are planning further developments in this regard, I have been approached recently by a number of constituents with family members who suffer from the disease and who are ineligible for a medical card because of the income limit. One case, about which I have not yet written but which I am sure will be appealed, concerns a constituent whose mother, who is in her mid-70s, has been refused a medical card on financial grounds. I appreciate that the income limit of €35,000 per annum for those over 70 is generous but, in this case, the family must pay €3,000 per month for care and help in the house for the mother.

A number of deductions can be made in the case of people under 70. Expenses such as child care expenses, mortgages and the cost of travelling to work, and so on, are taken into account but no such considerations apply to those over 70. Where home care for almost 24 hours per day is required, there should be a reduction in the income limit in the calculation of medical card eligibility. I ask the Minister to review the financial guidelines, in particular the deductions that could apply to persons over 70. I make the case for sufferers from Alzheimer's disease in particular because of the high level of care required. I look forward to the Minister's response. I am sure this is a matter we can discuss in more detail in the future.