Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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160. To ask the Minister for Health the reason that a person with multiple sclerosis and diabetes can hold a long term illness card for life but yet a person with a long term mental health diagnosis such as schizophrenia is ineligible for the same card; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37771/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Long Term Illness (LTI) Scheme was established under Section 59(3) of the Health Act 1970 (as amended). Regulations were made in 1971, 1973 and 1975 prescribing the 16 conditions that are covered by the LTI Scheme: acute leukaemia; mental handicap; cerebral palsy; mental illness (in a person under 16); cystic fibrosis; multiple sclerosis; diabetes insipidus; muscular dystrophies; diabetes mellitus; parkinsonism; epilepsy; phenylketonuria; haemophilia; spina bifida; hydrocephalus; and conditions arising from the use of Thalidomide. Under the scheme, patients receive drugs, medicines, and medical and surgical appliances directly related to the treatment of their illness, free of charge.

There are no plans to extend the list of conditions covered by the scheme.