Vol. 427 No. 7
57 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Health his views on whether children who are assessed as being either moderately or severely mentally handicapped should be entitled as of right, to medical cards; and if he will issue a directive to this effect to the health boards.
Under the Health Act, 1970, 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 practitioners services for themselves and their dependants. Income guidelines are available to assist chief executive officers in the determination of a person's eligibility and these are revised annually in line with the Consumer Price Index. However, these guidelines are not statutorily binding and even though a person's income exceeds the guidelines, that person may still be awarded a medical card if the chief executive officer considers that the person's medical needs or other circumstances would justify this. At present almost 36 per cent of the population hold medical cards.
I have given the issue raised by the Deputy very careful consideration and I would of course be anxious that every person who is in genuine need of a medical card should receive one. However I do not think that it is justifiable to grant an automatic entitlement to a medical card to any particular group without any reference to their means.
It is open to all persons to apply to the chief executive officer of the appropriate health board for health services if they are unable to provide these services for themselves and or their dependants without hardship. I am satisfied that health boards give sympathetic consideration to such applications when the circumstances warrant it.
