Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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1835. To ask the Minister for Health if he plans to extend the period of validity of medical and general practitioner visit cards until all issues relating to the cyber-attack are resolved in view of the present difficulties being experienced by staff in the primary care reimbursement service and applicants who are applying and renewing medical and general practitioner visit cards due to the malware attack; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35576/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As a result of the recent cyber-attack on the HSE, the National Medical Card Unit was temporarily unable to facilitate online medical or GP visit card applications. However, I am pleased to confirm that the HSE have now successfully restored web-enabled services. Medical and GP visit card applications can once again be submitted online or alternatively by post to the National Medical Card Unit.

During this temporary downtime of online services, it is important to highlight however that emergency and urgent medical card applications continued to be processed, albeit initially by fax and later via email. This ensured that critically ill persons were not prevented from applying for a medical card despite the significant technical challenges being experienced by the HSE at that time.

Furthermore, the National Medical Card Unit call centre remained fully operational during the downtime and successfully assisted those with queries on applications and the eligibility process.

The cyber-attack also had an impact on the carrying out of eligibility reviews. The HSE therefore extended eligibility for certain cohorts by an additional 2 months. This temporary measure ensured continued eligibility for individuals during an unprecedented cyber-attack on the health service.

I would advise any individual who may have a query about their application or eligibility status to check online with the HSE or contact the National Medical Card Unit helpline, which is fully operational on 1890 252 919 for further information and assistance.