Minister Harris to provide medical cards to over 10,000 very sick children

Minister for Health, Simon Harris, reaffirmed his commitment to automatically provide medical cards for very sick children who are in receipt of Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA).  At a meeting with ‘Our Children’s Health’ this week, Minister Harris confirmed that this was a priority for him in the upcoming budget discussions and legislation to enable it will follow as quickly as possible.

The Minister said; “Families all around the country are caring for about 30,000 very sick children. They currently receive Domiciliary Care Allowance but one-in-three do not get a medical card.  I am extending this to include 10,000 more children in receipt of the DCA who will be provided with a medical card”

From then on all of these children will be provided with a medical card without having to go through means testing, once they are in receipt of the Domiciliary Care Allowance.

“This is a key Programme for Government commitment and I am very confident I will be able to get cross-party support for this Bill when I bring it to the Oireachtas.  This would allow for it to pass quickly through the House so as to bring the benefits to these children and their families in the not too distant future.  I hope that not having to worry about applying for a medical card will help these families in some small way” concluded the Minister.