Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 169: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the criteria for which people with long-term illnesses are granted medical cards; the basis on which decisions are made as to whether a medical card should be for 12 months, 18 months, three years and so on; the situation in respect of a family medical card; the criteria covering various lengths for which a medical card is issued; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24540/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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Medical cards are made available by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to persons and their dependants who would otherwise experience undue hardship in meeting the cost of General Practitioner (GP) services. In general, eligibility for medical cards and GP visit cards is determined following an examination of the means of the applicant and his/her dependants (income and relevant outgoings). The main exception is persons aged 70 and over, who have an automatic statutory entitlement to a medical card.

The HSE has detailed operational guidelines in place for the assessment of medical card applications. I am informed that the guidelines include provisions dealing with medical card review dates and that the guiding principle is to set a date in each case at which an income/dependency change or other change could reasonably be expected to occur which would affect eligibility. The Executive has also indicated that such reviews are conducted in a manner that takes due account of the personal circumstances of the card holder and that arrangements are in place to limit the need for frequent reviews where a review would normally result in the renewal of the medical card.