Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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145. To ask the Minister for Health the numbers of those currently in receipt of GP only card; and the estimated numbers of the population entitled to the card. [26091/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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As of the 1st of August, 1,552,089 persons hold a medical card and 744,482 persons hold a GP visit card, which means that currently approximately 42% of the population have access to GP services without charge. Information on the number of medical card and GP visit card holders is available from the Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) Portal website.

Please note it is not possible to calculate the current number of persons eligible for either the medical card or GP visit card. However, as all persons under 8 years of age and all those aged 70 and over are eligible for a GP visit card, and as GP visit card eligibility was expanded to all those earning up to the median household income in 2023, it would be expected that in the region of 50% of the population would be eligible for GP care without charges under the GMS scheme. Accordingly, approximately 400,000 further persons may be eligible for either a Medical Card or a GP visit card.

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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146. To ask the Minister for Health the numbers of those currently in receipt of medical card; and the estimated numbers of the population entitled to the card. [26092/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.