Jim D'Arcy (Fine Gael)

Social protection. There has been little improvement in the time taken to process medical card applications since the centralisation of that function took place. We are told it should take 15 days to obtain a medical card if everything is in order. However, I have been contacted by many people who have experienced delays. Most recently, I heard of an application that was submitted in October, with everything in order, and resubmitted on 29 November following a request for further information. It was only after strong representations that this person's card was finally issued yesterday.

We were assured last week that ten additional staff members would be appointed to the central processing facility to cope with the volume of work. I am not blaming the Minister for Health for these delays; it is a question of staff shortages. We must ensure the most vulnerable in society receive their medical cards without undue delay.