Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)
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Question 150: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the number of persons covered by medical cards in each year since 2000; the percentage of the total population this represents; the numbers who have availed of the doctor only medical card in 2005; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10113/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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Information supplied to my Department by the Health Service Executive's, HSE, shared services primary care reimbursement service indicates that the following number of persons held a medical card in December of the relevant years. The national population figures for 2003, 2004 and 2005 are as estimated by the Central Statistics Office:

The HSE has advised that on 1 December 2005, some 2,824 people held a GP visit card. The executive has also indicated that, as of 14 March 2006, some 11,177 people hold a GP visit card.

Changes in the number of medical cards can largely be explained by a number of factors including the introduction of automatic eligibility to medical cards for people aged 70 and over in 2001. Other factors which have contributed to the changes include the increased number of people in employment and the improved economic situation nationally with people on higher wages. Also the ongoing management and review of medical card databases has been a factor which has improved data quality in the HSE's databases. For example a cleansing exercise undertaken by the former health boards in 2003 resulted in the removal of approximately 104,000 cards. Most of these cards would have been considered by the health boards to be normal deletions due to death, change in eligibility status or persons moving from one board area to another with a certain proportion removed due to being duplicates or expired records.