Vol. 428 No. 5
208 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health his views on the stand taken by the Southern Health Board in relation to the case of a person (details supplied) in County Cork who has been refused the renewal for her medical card on the grounds that she is attending Galway university and is no longer unemployed but rather a student.
Persons aged 16-25 (including students) who are financially dependent on their parents are entitled to a medical card if their parents are medical card holders. Those who are financially independent of their parents have their income assesed in their own right. The decision on whether a person should be regarded as financially independent is a matter for the health board. A student is assessed for a medical card by the health board in whose area he or she is attending college.
In the case referred to, the person in question had previously been financially independent of her parents and had qualified for a medical card from the Southern Health Board in her own right. As she has become a full-time student in Galway, her eligibility for a medical card is now a matter for the Western Health Board to determine and she should therefore make an application to that board.
