Recently, the HSE made cuts to primary eye care for medical card patients. Under the medical card scheme, a patient can get an eye test every two years, or on a yearly basis if there is a medical need. This was written into the contract opticians have with the HSE. Opticians in Tullow, Carlow and Bagenalstown have contacted me to tell me how they have used the scheme to examine patients with eye issues that can be monitored locally rather than requiring a hospital appointment the wait for which, as the Minister knows, can be lengthy. This scheme is not being continued. I do not understand the confusion. In the budget we extended dental care to all medical card holders, which I welcomed. However, people who have medical cards will now not receive eye care. I am constantly highlighting the fact that some doctors are charging people with medical cards for blood tests. This is unacceptable. We need to make sure that those who have medical cards, who are the most vulnerable, are looked after. During the pandemic some dentists did not take patients with medical cards. Can we look at changing the contracts with the HSE? What is happening is unacceptable and absolutely ridiculous.

I accept the concerns the Deputy has set out, but I wish to provide some detail. Additional funding of €10 million has been provided in budget 2022, on top of the existing level of service provision of €56 million. This additional allocation should enable progress to be made in addressing issues around service provision for medical card patients in 2022, which are the sort of measures the Deputy is concerned about. I understand that under the dental treatment services scheme, DTSS, which provides dental care free of charge to medical card holders aged over 16, services are provided by independent dental practitioners who have a contract with the HSE. It was always the intention of the Department to undertake a complete review of that contract when the new national oral health policy was launched. The Covid pandemic has caused the roll-out of the policy to be delayed and the proposed contract review to be deferred. As I understand it, it is still very much the intention to address the long-term issue.