Applying for a medical card today reminds me of applying for planning permission. One applies for planning permission and seven weeks later one gets a request for further information. One sends the information in and then one might get a subsequent request. That is fair enough for planning permission, but for medical cards, people are being notified four or five weeks after they apply by text message or by letter that more information is required. After sending in that information, people can then get a further request.

I do not know if this is a staff issue. I want to say that the staff of the dedicated line to the medical card office that we have as Deputies are courteous and helpful. They try to do the best they can for us. However, there must be a policy to stall, delay or frustrate these applications. I do not know what the problem is. Are more staff needed? More GP cards are provided for in the budget, but unless there are staff to deal with the current backlog, it will not work.

I thank the Deputy for his points. As practicing politicians, we all understand the frustrations arising from the application system. To be fair to the system however, it is very fair. It is a centralised national system. Previously, this work was carried out separately in different geographical areas, using different yardsticks. This is a better way of doing it, notwithstanding our frustrations with delays. Documents can go missing, and things like that are frustrating. By and large, the central office is doing a reasonably good job. It has made huge strides and treats everybody exactly the same. That element of fairness has to be welcomed.