Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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772. To ask the Minister for Health the average processing time for a medical card application in Primary Care Reimbursement Service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41981/14]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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The Primary Care Reimbursement Service has a target to have 90% of properly completed medical/GP visit card applications processed within 15 days of the application having been received by the HSE. The current turnaround is 97% within 15 days. This refers to applications, again properly completed, that enable an assessor to make a determination on eligibility under the scheme.

The length of time that it takes for applicants to receive a decision on their medical card applications where a fully completed application form was not submitted, depends on how quickly the applicants respond to the subsequent request for additional information. Applications that remain in process outside of the 15 day period due to incomplete applications, and where the applicant is engaging with the process, are facilitated so that eligibility may be retained in the interim. Once the documentation is received, their assessment is prioritised without delay. This process applies to renewal applications also.

Each week the HSE publishes the turnaround time for medical card processing and the Deputy can source this information on the Primary Care Reimbursement Services website at