Jimmy Harte (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to attend the House. A practical problem is arising in the north west over medical cards, particularly in County Donegal.

In other parts of the north west the review letters have gone out. I have been contacted in many cases by people with family members in nursing homes, sometimes over 90 years of age, who are being asked to resubmit the review. Through no fault of their own, they had not been reviewed for ten years. Some families are getting frustrated because some of the information being requested cannot be ascertained and they feel that they are forced to fill in the forms incorrectly. Are allowances being made in cases where information cannot be garnered from individuals? In one case a son asked his father about money and assets because the mother had died some years earlier and she had looked after the family's financial affairs and the father, who is now at an age where he suffers from dementia, did not know. The family do not know the information and feel they are compromising the medical card application. Could the HSE or the Department issue direction for such extreme cases? Others have come to me and the process for replying has been quite straightforward but when a person finds it difficult to reply, there should be some sort of provision for that.