Medical Card Administration

Tuesday, 3 November 2015

Questions (847)

James Bannon

Question:

847. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health if he will review the position regarding the centralising and processing of all medical cards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38312/15]

View answer

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Health

The Health Service Executive (HSE) decided to move the processing of medical cards from local services i.e. Local Health Offices into a single centralised national service at the Primary Care Reimbursement Service Office (PCRS) from July 2011. The rationale for this decision was to ensure medical card applications are assessed in a single uniform and consistent manner, regardless of their geographic location and to make sure the same rule set is applied to every applicant, including the application of discretion.

I have asked the HSE to respond directly to the Deputy on this issue.