Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 793: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the way in which prescription charges for medical card holders will be levied; if medical card holders who have to pay charges of more than €10 per month will have to reclaim the excess from the Health Service Executive; the estimated cost of administering this scheme; and the estimated revenue to be raised from the charges. [33805/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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The Health (Amendment) (No 2) Act 2010 provides that from 1st October 2010, medical card holders will pay a 50c charge for items supplied to them by community pharmacists on the prescription of a GP, dentist or nurse who is entitled to prescribe. The charges will be subject to a cap of €10 per month for each person or family.

Where a person or family pays more than €10 per month the HSE will issue refunds automatically on a quarterly basis based on information received from the pharmacy. Where a person considers that they have not received the refund due, the person can apply on-line or on a refund claim form, to make a claim for a refund from the HSE.

I do not expect that the introduction of prescription charges will have any significant ongoing resource implications in terms of costs or staffing.

It is estimated that the yield from prescription charges will be about €2 million per month.