Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 September 2020
34. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if promised medical card eligibility expansions and reductions in prescription charges made in budget 2020 will be commenced in 2020; the reason for the delay; if funding is being made available for same in 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23641/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn last year's budget, the Government announced that it would extend the medical card to seven and eight year olds and extend medical card eligibility for the over-70s by changing the eligibility criteria and the thresholds for entry. It also promised that all people with a terminal illness would have a medical card, and examining that issue was in the programme for Government. We passed a Bill on this matter in this House a number of weeks ago. There has still been no progress on these issues and my constituency office is inundated with people asking when this is going to happen. The Minister of State now has the floor and has the opportunity to provide clarity.
I thank the Deputy for keeping me on my toes today.
First, I acknowledge the difficult year older people in our society have experienced as a result of Covid-19. They have shown tremendous resilience in helping to fight the spread of Covid-19. The issue the Deputy raises is one that is very close to me as Minister of State with responsibility for older people and mental health.
Budget 2020 provided for an increase in the medical card thresholds for persons aged 70 and over. The threshold is currently €900 for a couple but would increase to €1,050. While it was intended that this measure would be implemented from July, it was not possible to legislate for the necessary amendments to provide for this measure until there was a fully constituted Dáil and Seanad. The Deputy is quite correct. The Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, was very pleased that his first piece of legislation was the Health (General Practitioner Service and Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Act 2020, which provides for the increases in the income thresholds.
When that measure was proposed in the budget last year, it was set to be introduced if sufficient savings were made in the health budget this year. As we are all aware, that is not possible at the moment. Those savings have not been realised as the pandemic has placed a significant demand on public finances, a substantial proportion of which have been allocated to the health system. In that context, decisions on the associated funding and a potential implementation date are being actively considered. I have sat down with the Minister on this matter because it is something we need to move on. I want to see it happening and it will be discussed in the context of the budget. I am hopeful that we will be able to bring this in. It would mean that for those over 70 who have an income of €900 and have missed out on a medical card, the threshold would increase to €1,050. I will be pushing this issue hard.
I do not think those over 70 will take any comfort from the fact that this might be addressed again in this year's budget. I do not doubt the Minister of State's sincerity or her association with this issue. The problem is that last year, in my constituency and around the State, Government Deputies were going around saying that this was one of the great things they had in the budget. They said that more people over 70 would get medical cards, as would seven and eight year olds, but that has not happened. We are now hearing that it might happen and it might be in this year's budget again. The fact is that the money should be provided to make it happen. Parents have contacted me whose children have passed the age of six and are now seven or eight. They say that they were promised this and were told it was in last year's budget. They are asking what is happening. The negotiations with the Irish Medical Organisation on this matter have not even occurred. The Minister has not even started discussions with the medical organisation to see what can happen. We need more answers and more clarity than "may" or "might", given that this was in last year's budget and was voted on by this House.
Can I ask something?
On the next round, not during priority questions.
As the Deputy will be aware, I am here representing the Minister for Health. I am glad the Deputy accepts my bona fides on this matter because I have spoken to the Minister about it and we are very anxious to make progress on the medical cards. Currently, 75% of persons aged over 70 have a medical card and if the potential beneficiaries, which could be up to 56,000 people, materialise then an increase in the income thresholds would result in over 88% of this cohort being eligible for a medical card. It is an important health measure which will provide medical card eligibility to a greater proportion of people over 70. All I can say here today is that I will continue to push this issue with the Minister. We are in an unprecedented times. Over €600 million has been allocated today for supports which will be seen in the next week or two. The Deputy has a guarantee from me that I will continue to push this.
I will make the point again that this was voted on in last year's budget. I do not think there is a Deputy in this Chamber, whether Government or Opposition, who has not been lobbied or received correspondence from parents of children and from older people about this.
I also raised the issue of cancer patients and other patients with terminal illnesses who were promised that medical cards for them would also be examined. When Fianna Fáil was involved in the confidence and supply agreement and was taking credit for all the good things it saw in the budget, but not the bad, the extension of eligibility for the medical card was one of the good things. Deputy after Deputy on the Government side took credit for it. Deputies from Fianna Fáil were falling over themselves to claim credit for the fact that children were going to get medical cards when they were seven or eight years old and more older people would get medical cards, but it has not been delivered. It is a broken promise. We are now being told it might be included in this year's budget. If that is the best I can bring back to the people in my constituency who have contacted me, I do not believe, on their behalf, that it is good enough.
I can certainly say that I was not one of the people who said this was a done deal because it was always contingent on there being a surplus in the budget in 2020 to deliver it. That was the small print that was written into it but who bothers with small print?
That is not what the Government says at budget time.
I was very clear on that. This was always dependent on a surplus. We are in unprecedented times. There is a pandemic. The Minister for Health has gone home because he is sick and he has to have a Covid test. We need to be very careful where we are. Some 357 people died today and our focus has to be on Covid. I want to see the threshold extended and I will be pushing hard for that during the Estimates and the budget. I have given that commitment on the floor of the Dáil. I have spoken to the Minister and he wants to see the same thing happen.
