Social Welfare Benefits
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-18
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Colm Burke (FG), Cork North-Central

I very much welcome the Minister's reply. However, where I am coming from is about the people who are marginally outside under the old scheme who now qualify under the new changes that the Minister has made. I very much welcome those changes because people who are providing care in the home for their immediate family or for relatives are providing a fantastic service. What I am concerned about now is where people are pulling back from applying because they are afraid of losing their medical card. That is extremely important to them, especially for anyone who is providing care but also has their own medical challenges and are still well able to provide that care. That is why I am looking for clarification. As the Minister knows, the qualifying criteria for medical cards has not changed for quite some time. That is another issue that needs to be reviewed but that is not under the Minister's Department. Can we get clarification before 1 July on this issue? It is going to affect quite a number of people who will not put in the application at this stage.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:51+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-18