The number of people who are entitled to medical cards has dropped from 36.4 per cent in April 1994 to 29.87 per cent now.
According to Ms Liz McManus, TD, Labour spokeswoman on health, figures given to her by the Minister for Health, Mr Micheal Martin, in the Dáil last week show that 60,000 fewer people now have medical cards than in the mid 1990s.
"The figures given to me show that the percentage of the population holding medical cards declined from 36.4 in 1994 to just 29.87 in April of this year," Ms McManus said.
"What these figures show is that despite the unprecedented resources available to the state, close to 60,000 fewer people now have medical cards than in the mid-1990s.
" . . .The reality is that the income limits are set so cruelly low that medical cards are really only available to those on social welfare and it was particularly disappointing that these were not increased in the budget at all.
". . .With the fee for a visit to a GP now in the region of £25, the prospect of illness hitting a family causes real fear."
Ms McManus also called on the Minister to reconsider his decision not to extend the medical card to 200,000 on low incomes.
"The cost of extending the medical card to 40 per cent of the population would be in the region of £116m. This is around one third of the cost of the reduction in employers PRSI announced in the budget.
"Even at this stage I would appeal to the government to recognise that they have made a serious mistake and to proceed with the original plan to extend the card to another 200,000 people."