John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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373. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to make changes to the income disregard for persons with a disability who hold a medical card. [31789/18]

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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The Department of Health is committed to ensuring that the recommendation included in the Make Work Pay for People with Disabilities Report to raise the medical card income disregard from its current level of €120 per week for people on Disability Allowance or on Partial Capacity Benefit is implemented. 

My officials are continuing to work with the HSE to finalise the operational details to give effect to this recommendation. It is intended that the recommendation will be implemented ahead of the report's timeframe of quarter 4 of 2018.

It is worth noting that the second recommendation in the Make Work Pay Report in relation to the medical card was to remove the requirement that work undertaken for the medical card earnings disregard must be of a "rehabilitative" nature. This measure was implemented by the HSE  last year.