Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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2796. To ask the Minister for Health if the drugs scheme minimum payment be dropped from €80 to €40 for widowed partners (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42051/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS) ensures that expenditure on approved prescribed medicines or medical appliances does not exceed a named threshold in any calendar month. The DPS is not means tested and is available to anyone ordinarily resident in Ireland. Currently, the DPS threshold is €80, so no individual or family pays more than that a month on approved prescribed medicines or medical appliances. The DPS significantly reduces the cost burden for people with ongoing expenditure on medicines.

The DPS is deliberately designed as a simple universal non-means tested scheme which is in place to protect those who do not qualify for a medical card. There is a process around means testing for medical cards which requires that the HSE consider hardship and inability to pay for required health care when making determinations around eligibility for healthcare services.

In certain circumstances the HSE may exercise discretion and grant a medical card, even though an applicant exceeds the income guidelines, where he or she faces difficult financial circumstances, such as extra costs arising from illness. The HSE afford applicants the opportunity to furnish supporting documentation to determine whether undue hardship exists and to fully take account of all relevant circumstances that may benefit them in assessment.

In circumstances where an applicant is still over the income limit for a medical card, they are then assessed for a GP visit card, which entitles the applicant to GP visits without charge.

The introduction of diverse DPS thresholds (for families, couples, individuals, etc.) would introduce a level of complexity into the operation of the DPS that is not justified when there is another scheme in place to assist in cases of hardship brought on by meeting medical costs.

Individuals may also be entitled to claim tax relief on the cost of their medical expenses, including medicines prescribed by a doctor, dentist, or consultant. Relief is at the standard tax rate of 20%.