Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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65. To ask the Minister for Health if a person who is ordinarily resident here but is currently a student in the United Kingdom can qualify for a Medical Card; how frequently must this person return home to Ireland to be considered as ordinarily resident by the Health Service Executive; if it is sufficient to return at end-of-term time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4524/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Health Act 1970 (as amended) includes being “ordinarily resident in the State” among the criteria for eligibility for health services. Decisions on whether a person is ordinarily resident and whether an individual is eligible for a medical card are matters for the HSE and will be determined based on an individual's particular circumstances. It is important to emphasise that the Irish medical card does not provide access to health services outside of Ireland.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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66. To ask the Minister for Health his views on an automatic entitlement to a Medical Card for persons diagnosed with Prader-Willi Syndrome further to a meeting he had in late 2015 with an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4529/16]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Under the provisions of the Health Acts, medical cards are provided to persons who are, in the opinion of the HSE, unable without undue hardship to arrange GP services for themselves and their dependants. In the assessment process, the HSE can take into account medical costs incurred by an individual or a family. Where deemed appropriate in particular circumstances, the HSE may exercise discretion and grant a medical card even though an applicant's means exceed the prescribed threshold. Where a person does not qualify for a medical card, they may be provided with a GP Visit Card, appropriate therapy or other community supports or drugs.

The Deputy will be aware that the report of the Expert Panel on Medical Need for Medical Card Eligibility, known as the Keane Report, recommended that a person’s means should remain the main qualifier for a medical card and that it was not feasible, desirable, nor ethically justifiable to list medical conditions for medical card eligibility. Nonetheless, it is clear that there are people – including children - with medical needs and it is important that they should be able to access necessary assistance in a straight forward manner.

On foot of the Keane Report, the Clinical Advisory Group on medical card eligibility was established by the HSE to develop a framework for assessment and measurement of the burden of disease and appropriate operational guidelines for the medical card scheme. I can advise the Deputy that the Group is continuing its work on the development of guidance on assessing medical card applications involving significant medical conditions. Having regard to the approach of the Keane Report and in advance of the Clinical Advisory Group completing its work, I do not propose to issue automatic medical cards to one particular group.

As a result of a range of improvements of foot of the Keane Report the HSE is exercising greater discretion which is evidenced in the 90% increase in the number of discretionary medical cards, from about 52,000 in mid-2014 to over 99,000 at 1 January this year.

Until we have universal health care and everyone has eligibility for health services, one will always have anomalies. There will always be somebody who is just above the means threshold, or who does not have the prescribed disease, or whose condition is not sufficiently severe and, as a result, these individuals will not meet the assessment criteria. Universal health care, to which I am committed, is the only solution to address this issue.