asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of the severe hardship caused to medical card holders who do not now qualify for certain medicines and other benefits which have been withdrawn from the medical card list and if he will make a statement on the matter.

While items excluded from availability free of charge under the general medical service are cheap and may be purchased without hardship by the majority of medical card holders, the health boards will in special circumstances arrange for their supply free of charge.

I am not aware of any case in which a medical card holder is incurring hardship due to the withdrawal of these items.

May I take it that various health boards have a certain amount of latitude in regard to the dispensing of drugs in cases of long illness?

Yes, they have very definite individual responsibility and there are 502 cases in the Deputy's health board area. Under the Health Act the CEOs can exercise discretion without reference to the Department. Each CEO has statutory power to deal with cases of hardship.

Has that been restricted in the past two years?

No. For example, the Southern Health Board between 1 January 1983 and the end of August 1983 received 500 claims of that nature which cost them £9,915. In 1983 the North Eastern Health Board received 135 claims which cost them £6,500. In the Eastern Health Board area there were 2,200 claims which cost them £44,000. All the health boards meet individual cases of need.

Have the payments board carried out a comparative analysis of the various drugs used in substitution for those removed? Is the Minister satisfied that it is still cost effective to keep many of these drugs off the prescribing list and, in particular, that more potent and expensive drugs are not being used in lieu of the drugs not available?

I know they have a great deal of information and I hope that most of it has not been destroyed by the fire in Finglas. I will ask them to produce this information on a comparative basis and I will sent it on to the Deputy.

10.