asked the Minister for Health if he will consider making medical cards available without a means test to all old age pensioners; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

13.

asked the Minister for Health if he will consider making medical cards available without a means test to old age pensioners and those on retirement pension.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 13 together.

Medical cards are issued to persons who, in the opinion of the chief executive officer of the appropriate board, are unable without undue hardship to provide general practitioner services for themselves and their dependants.

Income guidelines have been adopted to assist chief executive officers of health boards in determining applications for medical cards. Special provision has been included in these guidelines for persons over 66 years of age. All non-contributory old age pensioners should qualify for a medical card in accordance with the guidelines.

Contributory old age pensioners and retirement pensioners who have no income other than their pension should also qualify for a medical card in accordance with the guidelines.

Contributory old age pensioners and retirement pensioners who have income additional to their pension, for example, from an occupational pension scheme may qualify depending on the amount of their total income.

I consider that old age pensioners generally are adequately protected by the existing guidelines especially with the inclusion of the age allowance which I introduced last year. I do not, therefore, consider that medical cards should be issued automatically to all old age pensioners irrespective of their financial circumstances.

Many contributory pensioners have been deprived of the medical card as the result of having a retirement pension. Therefore, would the Minister reconsider the position of old age pensioners and raise the ceiling to qualify for a medical card by approximately 50 per cent?

For a pensioner couple, for example, over the age of 66 the income guideline is £100.50 a week. On top of that anything paid in excess of £10 for rent is allowable. If they are paying £15 a week they will be allowed another £5. That is the guideline. It is being kept in line with inflation and, generally speaking, with an increase of 7.5 per cent this year, it is above the rate of inflation. Several Governments including the former Government considered this matter and decided that it should be related to income. The former Government decided to give medical cards from July 1982 to all persons over 66 who were in receipt of social welfare pensions including contributory pensions. That decision was reversed in October 1982. I am operating this as it was since October 1982.

The Minister stated that this decision he talks about to remove medical cards from old age pensioners was taken in October 1982. I challenge him on that. I ask him to tell the House when that decision took effect. As the Minister knows, there was a change of Government in December 1982 and up to the time of the change of Government old age pensioners were still receiving medical cards. I ask the Minister to tell us the date on which that decision took effect. Also, will the Minister instruct the health boards to accept that a person who receives a full old age pension after investigation by a social welfare officer will not have to go through a second investigation by a community welfare officer at great expense to the health board in order to receive a medical card?

The decision was taken at a Government meeting in October 1982.

That is not the question I asked.

I can send the Deputy the information.

The Minister has given the information in the House here. It was February 1983.

I can send him the text of the Government decision and the date on which it was arrived at.

No, the date of the implementation of it.

On the basis of that decision——

It was since the Minister's party came into office.

——the Estimate figures for 1983 were decided. It was in the preparation of the Estimates that the decision was taken. A general election overtook the decision, but we assured this House, as did the Fianna Fáil Party, that the Estimates for 1982 would be the Estimates for the budget of 1983 and I took it over on that basis. The decision is there——

They were still being allocated in February 1983.

14.