James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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783. To ask the Minister for Health the timeframe for children who are recipients of domiciliary care allowance to be approved for full medical cards without assessments as promised in July 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34339/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) medical cards have been certified for use since 1 June 2017. From this date, children for whom a DCA is paid automatically qualify for a medical card without assessment.

For a child in receipt of DCA but who currently does not have a DCA medical card, the parent or guardian must register for the scheme either online or through a paper-based form. For a child who held a medical card (under discretion or otherwise) prior to 1 June 2017 and who is in receipt of DCA, the HSE will have automatically issued them a DCA medical card. For a child who held a GP Visit Card (under discretion or otherwise) prior to 1 June 2017, their card will have been automatically upgraded by the HSE to a full DCA medical card.