I propose to take Questions Nos. 36 and 53 together.
There appears to be a great deal of confused thinking about the circumstances in which medical cards are granted. The position is that medical cards are issued to persons who, in the opinion of the chief executive officer of the appropriate health board, are unable without undue hardship to provide general practitioner services for themselves and their dependants. While annual income is of obvious relevance, other factors such as family size, capital available and so on must also be taken into account. Income guidelines are made available to chief executive officers largely to ensure a uniformity of approach throughout the country as a whole.
In these circumstances, I am sure the Deputies will appreciate that each individual case must be investigated to determine whether or not a person can arrange general practitioner services without undue hardship.
As the House is aware, I have already announced my intention to set up a medical card appeals system and the necessary administrative and legislative arrangements are currently being actively pursued in my Department. When this system is in place any person who feels aggrieved in relation to a decision not to grant a medical card can have the problem addressed under the appeals procedures.