asked the Minister for Health if his Department is giving an allowance for social welfare stamps as an expense against income when assessing means for a medical card.

The criteria for determining eligibility for medical cards are laid down by the chief executive officers of the health boards. In assessing eligibility, no special allowance is made for social welfare contributions. The income guidelines which are used by the chief executive officers to assist in deciding eligibility for medical cards have been fixed with due regard to the fact that no such allowance is made for this or other statutory payments.

The position concerning what is included or excluded in assessing eligibility for medical cards is explained in a statement which I made in reply to a question from Deputy Fahey on 27th October, 1976, Official Report, Volume 293, No. 4, column 487.

I understand that before the guidelines were changed the cost of the stamp was taken away from gross salary. My information is that the guidelines were put up and that the stamp is not now taken off the salary. The guidelines have gone from £25 to £34 for a man and his wife. Perhaps that is because of the way income is being estimated. If the Minister tells me that the cost of the stamp is taken out when arriving at the income I am satisfied but my information is that it is not and that it was deducted before the guidelines were changed.

The Deputy must ask a question.

That is exactly what I am doing.

The Deputy made a statement.

Are you ruling me out of order?

The Deputy must adhere to the rules of order governing Question Time like any other Deputy.

It is correct as the Deputy says, that it happened in some of the health boards that the social welfare stamp was deducted. There were various guidelines in various health boards. About three years ago the CEOs came together to establish guidelines for the eight boards and now all the health boards are operating under the same guidelines.

The Minister now tells me that some health boards were allowing the stamp while others were not. My information then must be correct; we must be one of the health boards that were allowing the stamp and we are not allowing it now in the Western Health Board.

That is not a question either.

Of course it is a question.

The Deputy is perfectly correct. It did operate in the Western Health Board up to 1st January last.

May I take it from the Minister's answer that it was operated by the Western Health Board up to the 1st January, but is not being operated now?

That is right.

I knew that but I wanted it clarified. That means that the guidelines are unrealistic now.

They are not.