Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

391. To ask the Minister for Health when the expert medical review group will report on the medical conditions that should be included for discretionary medical card applications. [36824/14]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Government decided that, in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Public Expenditure, the Minister for Health would revert to Government with options for providing eligibility for a range of health services on the basis of specific and defined medical conditions. The Government has not specified that a person with a particular medical condition would qualify for a medical card per se. Instead, it will take into consideration the recommendations of specific medical conditions by an expert panel examining the issue.

In support of this work, the Director-General of the Health Service Executive established an Expert Panel to examine and recommend the range of medical conditions that should be considered as a basis of eligibility. The Expert Panel is chaired by Professor Frank Keane, past-president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and clinical lead of the National Clinical Programme for Surgery. The panel includes a range of 23 clinical experts from primary care, specialist services and therapies. The panel also includes a patient representative to ensure that the views of patients are central to the process. The Expert Panel is to report to the Director General of the HSE, who will then advise the Minister of the outcome of the deliberations of the Expert Panel. The completion of the report is a matter for the Expert Panel and the HSE and I await their report on its completion.