Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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650. To ask the Minister for Health if there are plans to raise the threshold from €900 to €1,000 for over 70s couples who apply for a medical card; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28191/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Health (General Practitioner Service and Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2020, enacted on 2 August 2020, provided for an increase to the gross medical card income limits for those aged 70 and over to €550 per week for a single person and to €1,050 per week for a couple. The Government has now approved the necessary funding required to implement this measure and the new increased income limits will take effect from 1 November 2020.

Officials in my Department are therefore now making the necessary arrangements to commence the relevant section of the Act and are engaging with the HSE's National Medical Card unit to ensure all operational arrangements are in place for implementation of this measure.