The Minister for Primary Care says he cannot comment on plans for a possible 'third tier' of medical cards. But Alex White says the Health Service Executive (HSE) is looking into plans where anybody losing a medical card can still access the care they need.

The Minister for Health James Reilly has told his Fine Gael colleagues that a new form of medical card could be introduced.

Junior Minister White says he cannot comment on that - but has told the Dáil that nobody should lose the services they need.

Earlier this month, Minister Reilly said he was considering plans to broaden the eligibility for discretionary medical cards.

The comments came after a number of backbench Fine Gael TDs told him that their constituents number one fear was having their cards removed.

The Minister asked TDs to give him a list of "hard cases" where they feel people should have been given cards so his Department can get to the bottom of it.

Mr. Reilly said that adding a "third tier" to discretionary medical cards was one of the measures he is exploring.