Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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678. To ask the Minister for Health the eligibility status after 31 July 2015 of the discretionary medical card holders whose discretionary medical cards were lost between July 2011 and May 2014 and for whom they were not re-instated until 31 July 2015, following a Government decision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21487/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Persons with a serious medical condition or disability, who had the renewal of their discretionary card refused by the HSE, having completed an eligibility review during the period from 1 July 2011 to 31 May 2014, had their cards reissued to July 2015. These persons were reassured that they would retain their card pending implementation of the actions to improve the operation of the scheme which built on the recommendations in the Report of the Expert Panel on Medical Need for Medical Card Eligibility and the Medical Card Process Review in November 2014.

The Minister for Health and I have considered this matter and we believe that there is a need for further implementation of the various actions and improvements identified. As a result, we agreed that the temporary reinstatement of these discretionary cards should be extended by a further 12 months, expiring end-July 2016 and the HSE has been advised accordingly.