Medical Cards
Seanad Éireann — 2022-09-21
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Mary Butler (FF), Waterford

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Health, but can I just say that from my own perspective, as Minister of State with responsibility for older people, I am of the view that the rent-a-room scheme is invaluable in light of the challenges we have in the context of accommodation and the pressures that exist. It is also invaluable from the perspective that an elderly person who is living alone could decide to rent out a room under the scheme. Having the company and companionship is important. I spoke to a recently bereaved gentleman who told me that he had taken in a family of two adults and two children from Ukraine. He said that to see clothes hanging on the washing line again gave him such a lift. The rent-a-room scheme is Government policy, so everyone is very supportive of it, but it is really important. It can provide access to income for people who are challenged financially.
Social and medical issues are also considered when determining whether undue hardship exists for an individual accessing a general practitioner or other medical services, which deals with people who have access to a medical or GP-only card.
On the Senator’s specific question, my understanding is that current rent-a-room tax relief allows people to earn up to €14,000 per year tax free if renting out a room or rooms in their home to private tenants. As we have said, this was also a call-out from the Minister, Deputy Harris, to students who are finding it difficult to access accommodation. Income from the rent-a-room scheme is not currently exempted from the medical card assessment process, as the Senator noted. A proposal to exclude income derived from the rent-a-room scheme from the medical card assessment process needs to be reviewed in detail to determine and consider the range of policy, legislative, operational and financial implications involved.
I assure the Senator the Minister for Health endeavours to ensure that the medical card system is responsive and sensitive to people's needs. The Department of Health keeps medical card issues, including the current medical card income thresholds, under review and any proposals are considered in the context of any potential broader implications for Government policy, the annual budgetary Estimates process and legislative requirements arising.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2022-09-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:51:03+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-09-21