John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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534. To ask the Minister for Health if a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will have their medical card reinstated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28257/14]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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In the context of the Government's decision to develop a policy framework for providing eligibility for health services on the basis of medical conditions, the Government recently announced that a medical card or GP visit card is to be issued to a person, with a serious illness, whose discretionary card was refused renewal since the centralisation of medical card assessments. If the medical card or GP visit card to which the Deputy refers was awarded by way of discretion and was refused renewal in the period from 1 July 2011 to 31 May 2014 following the completion of an eligibility review, a card will issue by the HSE.

The HSE has commenced issuing letters to the persons concerned and this process should be concluded by the first two weeks of July. No action is required on the part of those affected as the HSE will be in contact. If people do not hear from the HSE by mid July, they should contact the HSE on its Lo-Call contact number: 1890 25 29 19. These individuals will be able to access medical card and GP visit card services in the normal manner when they have been advised by the HSE that their medical card or GP visit card is active.

The Health Service Executive has been asked to examine the specific query raised and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible. The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to medical cards and GP visit cards, which the Deputy may wish to use for an earlier response. Contact information has issued to Oireachtas members.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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535. To ask the Minister for Health if, as per his announcement recently that all discretionary medical cards removed under review since June, 2011 will be reinstated, if his instructions have been formally forwarded to PCRS as they seem to be unaware of how and when this process will commence; the process involved; if some discretionary cards will not be reinstated; if not the reason for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28275/14]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The Government has authorised the HSE to issue cards to people who held a medical or GP visit card, issued on a discretionary basis to a person with a serious medical condition, and where the card renewal was refused having completed an eligibility review between 1 July 2011 to 31 May 2014. The HSE has commenced issuing letters to the persons concerned and this process should be concluded by the first two weeks of July.

The issuing of cards to persons affected is based on the following criteria:

- A person must have held a medical or GP visit card during that period, issued on a discretionary basis, but had it withdrawn on foot of a completed eligibility review;

- They must have completed the review process during that period i.e. provided the information and documentation required to assess their eligibility;

- They must have a serious medical condition which required that their case was referred to a Medical Officer as a part of the review process.

It is anticipated that over 15,000 cards will issue to people with serious medical conditions as part of this process. However, until the HSE has completed its examination on a case by case basis, it is not possible to provide a definitive figure.

Furthermore, it is also recognised that a small number of individuals may not have been able to complete their review during this period due to circumstances relating to their medical condition, e.g., hospitalisation during treatment, change of residence during treatment. Therefore, the Director General of the HSE may act, on his own initiative, to take account of an ad misericordiamappeal (an appeal “to pity”) on a case by case basis to issue a discretionary card to such a person that has a serious medical condition.