Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Question 203: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if having regard to the recovery by the Health Service Executive of 9,264 over 70s medical cards as part of a date quality exercise, these cards related to persons who had died, or left the State; if payments were made by the HSE in respect of these cards; if payments made have or will be recovered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24569/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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Following enactment of the Health Act 2008, the Health Service Executive (HSE) wrote to all medical card holders aged 70 years and over in January 2009. Persons who were in receipt of a medical card on a non means tested basis were requested, if over the income limits set out in the Act, to make a declaration to the Executive, on or before the 2nd March 2009.

To-date, 19,954 medical cards for persons aged 70 and over have been returned or removed from the medical card register. 10,690 of these cards were returned to the HSE by persons aged 70 or over whose weekly income was in excess of the specified thresholds and a further 9,264 medical cards were removed from the medical card register as part of a data quality exercise, where for example, the HSE had been advised that the card holder is deceased or the card holder was not known at the address, etc. The HSE has advised my Department that it has commenced calculations to determine if any recoupment is required to be processed as a result of its data validation exercise.