Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is the position. I know this is a sensitive matter. I agree with the Senator that people who receive a diagnosis of cancer will be in a distressed state and the last thing they should be dealing with is the question of entitlements, etc. Without taking at all from that statement, people are diagnosed with other catastrophic illnesses and conditions that are not cancer and we should consider them in the context that the Senator has raised. When I say it is not just cancer, I am not trying to diminish the awfulness of a diagnosis of cancer.

The Government, the HSE and I must have a system - I shall not repeat the figures because the Senator appealed to me not to - that is credible and transparent so that everybody knows where they stand and what the score is. I do not mean to trivialise the matter by using the term "knows what the score is". I mean that there should be clarity in regard to the matter. We have introduced clarity in that respect and there is also an appeals system. For example, if a person receives a letter asking about their means in order to review a medical card, and co-operates, which is the case in most situations, he or she does not lose the medical card. It has been suggested that people are having cards whipped from them, but that is not fair. Where there is engagement with the system, the card is not taken from the individual.