asked the Minister for Health in respect of the Eastern Health Board area, (1) the criteria being used to assess eligibility of students for medical cards, (2) the medical conditions accepted as grounds of hardship, other than the prescribed long-term illnesses; and (3) the number of students who have been refused a medical card, who were certified as asthmatic.
Written Answers. - Students' Medical Cards.
553.
Students— (1) who are not dependants of persons with medical cards or; (2) who are not in receipt of a disabled persons maintenance allowance or; (3) who do not qualify under EEC regulations are assessed for a medical card using the same criteria as other applicants including their family circumstances where appropriate.
The criterion of eligibility is inability to arrange general practitioner services without undue hardship. All relevant financial circumstances are taken into account in assessing any application.
Any medical condition which involves expenditure will be taken into account in assessing eligibility on grounds of hardship. These provisions apply in all health board areas.
Particulars are not readily available which would make it possible to estimate the number of students who were refused medical cards and who were certified as suffering from asthma. A small sample of cases in which applications for medical cards were refused has been examined in the Eastern Health Board office and none of these was declared to be suffering from asthma. It may be assumed that the number of such cases, if any, is small.