Denis Landy (Labour)

Like everyone else, I wish everybody a happy new year. All the Christmas cards were very nice and I thank everyone very much.

I want to raise an issue on health which I have raised on a number of occasions previously and which has been raised by many colleagues. I refer to the delay in processing medical cards in the central processing unit in Finglas. I read in the media a number of reports from politicians on all sides, including Deputies Kelleher and O'Mahony, of horrendous cases. In one case the individual was dead when the medical card arrived. In another case an individual who applied in 2010 received a letter in December 2011 stating that the application was being given urgent attention. In the north east, 100 GPs have withdrawn from primary care teams in protest against the delays in processing medical cards.

Senators on both sides of the House have raised this issue repeatedly since July. The Minister for Health stated that he was advised that 80% of medical card applications were being processed within ten working days. Given that the biggest issues facing Members in their constituency work is the delay in issuing medical cards, it is strange that the remaining 20% are approaching all the politicians. The numbers simply do not stack up. There has been no improvement despite the Minister's commitment to intervene. Two Ministers of State from my party have expressed concerns about the matter, namely, the Ministers of State at the Department of Health, Deputies Kathleen Lynch and Róisín Shortall.

I ask the Leader to arrange for a delegation from this and the Lower House to visit the central processing unit in Finglas to find out what is going on. Officials in that building will not even take calls from public representatives. All we can do is e-mail them, which is not good enough in this day and age. People have been waiting longer than one year to have their medical cards renewed. We were told locally that cards would take ten to 15 days and the Minister claims they are being processed within ten days but the truth is that they can take over a year. I urge the Leader to arrange with the Minister for a delegation to visit the Finglas unit at the earliest opportunity so that we can find out what is happening and foster a sense of urgency on the matter.