asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will request the Minister for Health to ask the chief executive officers of the regional health boards to disregard the family income supplement as a means for certain health and welfare services.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Medical Card Eligibility.
24.
It is assumed that the Deputy is referring to how receipt of the family income supplement from my Department affects a person's eligibility for a medical card under the Health Acts. As the Deputy will be aware, entitlement to a medical card is determined on the basis of guidelines issued by the Department of Health to chief executive officers of health boards. While circumstances arise where a family's income, inclusive of family income supplement, exceeds the medical card guidelines the chief executive officer of the appropriate health board still has discretion to issue a medical card if he considers that undue hardship exists. This has been the position since the family income supplement scheme came into operation and I am not aware of any particular difficulties in this area.
We are now talking about an area where we have a great deal of poverty. Is the Minister aware that a number of families fail to apply for the FIS because of the fear of losing the health services? I know the Minister is not responsible for the health services but I must assume it is a function of his Department and the Department of Health——
Ceist, le do thoil.
——to try to eliminate poverty in this area. Secondly, we are trying to create an incentive to work——
May I have a question please?
——when we apply the family income supplement.
Yes, I am of course concerned and if the Deputy takes the case of a family with one child and an income of £108 per week there will not be a problem with the FIS. However, as additional income is added, since the rate of increase is considerable in the FIS for each child, greater than it is in the medical card, it could result in the income going above the medical card guidelines. We have had discussions with the health boards and they have said that as far as they are concerned no medical card should be lost solely because of the FIS. This is the practical position at the moment; therefore, in practical terms the FIS should not affect eligibility for a medical card as a matter of practice as distinct from theory.
A brief question, Deputy Wyse. We want to get on to the other questions if possible.
I want the Minister's assurance on this as I can assure him that it is a fact when a person applies for a medical card——
If the Deputy has any case he wants to bring to my attention I will follow it up.