Figures released to Fianna Fáil have revealed that 2,600 medical cards have been cut in Limerick in 12 months, more than 770 of these for over 70s.
The number of medical cards in Limerick has been cut by 2,609 from 80,895 in September 2013 to 78,286 last September, this includes a reduction in the number of over 70s medical cards by 776 – from 15,403 to 14,627 – according to Deputy Willie O’Dea(FF)
Deputy O’Dea has condemned the cuts.
He said: “These are appalling cuts and have had a major impact on people’s lives in all parts of Limerick. I have consistently pointed out that the Government was engaged in a deliberate and disgraceful attack on people with medical cards, which it denied for 18 months before being shamed into admitting this was a deliberate policy. We now have clear evidence of the scale of the cuts. In one year alone over 2,600 medical cards were taken off people in Limerick alone – all at the hands of Minister James Reilly. Over 770 of these were medical cards for people over 70 years of age.
“For two years the Government ignored the issue and denied that there was a deliberate policy to cut medical cards for people with serious illnesses and disabilities and the over 70s. It took the loss of hundreds of council seats to make the Government sit up and listen.
“However, despite claiming to stop these cuts and to begin restoring medical cards the Government is still taking cards away from people desperately in need of them. I am dealing with cases every week of people having their cards withdrawn and then being denied their cards again on appeal. It is astonishing that thousands of families are still enduring so much anguish, hurt and expense at the hands of this Government.”
