Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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981. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding the application of prescription charges for persons who have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome; if he will consider providing them with an exemption from the charge; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31385/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Prescription charges are part of a set of measures introduced by Government in recent years to reduce pharmaceutical drugs expenditure. Medical card holders are required to pay a prescription charge of €2.50 per item for medicines and other prescription items supplied to them by community pharmacists, subject to a cap of €25 per month for each person or family.

At present, the only exemptions from prescription charges apply to children in the care of the Health Service Executive, patients participating in the Methadone Treatment Scheme, and asylum seekers living in direct provision. There are no plans to introduce exemptions for specific medical conditions.