Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 March 2017
706. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Health the status of plans to grant automatic qualification to a medical card for children in receipt of domiciliary care allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12831/17]
View answerThe Health (Amendment) Bill 2017 was published Thursday 2nd March 2017. This Bill will enable the granting of full eligibility for general practitioner and other health services to all children in respect of whom a Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) is paid. Granting a medical card to all children in respect of whom a DCA payment is made will benefit approximately 9,800 children in this cohort who do not currently qualify for a medical card. The legislation is currently being debated by the Houses of the Oireachtas. It is hoped to complete all stages before the end of March 2017.
Pre-registration with the HSE for the DCA medical card will be available from 1st May 2017. This can be done on-line or paper-based. These medical cards will be certified for use from 1st June 2017.
