Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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770. To ask the Minister for Health when the report of the clinical advisory group on medical card eligibility will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37782/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government ‘Our Shared Future’ contains a commitment to extend discretionary medical cards to those with a terminal illness. A HSE Clinical Advisory Group (CAG) was established in December 2019 to review eligibility for medical cards in cases of terminal illness. The final Report of the CAG was recently submitted to my Department and has now been published.

The Report notes that there are practical and legal challenges with extending eligibility for medical cards for terminally ill patients within the framework of the current process. However, I wish to assure the Deputy that I am committed to ensuring that terminally ill patients have access to the services they need. In that regard, my Department has devised a work programme which has been initiated and which will look to address the policy and legal findings of the Report and deliver on the Programme for Government commitment.