Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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342. To ask the Minister for Health the reason the income threshold for a person applying for a medical card who is over 70 years of age is €500 in the case of a single person but is €900 in the case of a married couple; if he considers this discrimination in the case of a married couple; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8448/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) (No. 2) Act 2013 sets out that, when a person attains the age of 70, the medical card income limits are €500 gross income per week for a single person and €900 gross income per week for a couple.

The Government recognised that the living costs of an individual living alone are more than half the living costs of a couple living together and that expenditure does not necessarily diminish relative to the number of people in the household. This is recognised, inter alia, through the provision of the Living Alone Allowance increase and differential income thresholds for medical cards for persons aged under 70 between individuals and couples.

In that context, the over 70's income limit for a single person was reduced proportionately less that the income limit for a couple. There are no proposals to change this assessment process and it is not seen to constitute discrimination under equality legislation.