Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking this Commencement matter. The Minister of State is in a neighbouring constituency quite similar to mine. She was with us recently and I thank her for that positive visit to Cashel. I have raised this because of the frustration in my office, and I am sure in hers and others across the country, of people who are not getting medical cards, even though when we deal with them we know they deserve them. I will speak to a couple of examples, and then about how it particularly falls back on the self-employed and farmers. They have an asset that obviously costs a lot, but they will never sell it. They are losing out regardless of how low their income is from that asset or of the outgoings they have. People are missing out on medical cards who genuinely deserve them.

I have a couple or examples I want to put on record. I have been dealing with these for the past number of months. There are two ladies in Tipperary who have both had a leg amputated. These women are both married to farmers. I and Councillor Mark Fitzgerald have been working for months to get these medical cards over the line, but to no avail. The single farm payment appears to be putting them at a distinct disadvantage in attaining the medical card. One of these ladies needs a new prosthesis, but she cannot afford it so needs to get a medical card. However, she cannot get one because her husband is a farmer. I have had this issue a number of times with self-employed people, but particularly with farmers. I suggest, that particularly for these ladies who will live the remainder of their lives with a severe disability, a medical card be automatically granted on medical grounds without the need for financial assessment. I know there are cases where medical cards are granted for severe medical conditions, where they meet certain criteria, but I believe these criteria need to be examined and expanded to include amputees and those living with life-altering illnesses. There have been dramatic changes in the Department of Health in terms of opening up GP care, free GP care and visit cards. I welcome that. The availability of these services is under strain but these people really deserve medical cards.

There is another person in Tipperary who has been living with diabetes for decades. He has a good job and a good wage, but three out of his four children are now in college. The family is struggling significantly. His wife recently returned to work to supplement their income. He is under significant pressure as he is on a strict diet to control his sugar levels. His application has been refused numerous times. I know that man is making financial decisions to make sure he can pay for his children to go to college instead of paying for medicine and looking after himself. That is not the situation we should be in. These are genuine cases where people need to be assessed on the basis of common sense. If somebody is an amputee it is common sense that they should have a medical card based on medical need, and nothing to do with their financial circumstances. I have spoken to others and everyone has these frustrations. I assume the Minister of State has had the same experience. These are genuine people who need support. If we cannot support them, well what are we doing?