Asylum-seekers exempted from prescription charge

Regulations exempting asylum-seekers living in direct provision from the prescription charge levied on medical-card holders have been signed by Minister for Health Leo Varadkar.

The decision to exempt asylum-seekers from the €2.50 per item charge was in response to evidence that recent increases in the charge caused hardship among people living in direct provision.

Mr Varadkar said the exemption would “relieve some of the financial burden on people living in direct provision, who previously were obliged to pay the charge from limited State support”. Asylum-seekers receive €19.10 in direct payments each week.

The early introduction of an exemption was one of the recommendations made by a Department of Justice working group in a report published last week.

It pointed to the concerns of asylum seekers with chronic health issues about the affordability of paying the charge out of the €19.10.

The only exemptions that currently apply are for children in care of the HSE and methadone patients.

Medical-card holders have to pay a prescription charge of €2.50 per item, subject to a cap of €25 a month for each person or family.