Discretionary medical cards are to be returned to some 15,000 people, but the costs they incurred while they were without will not be covered.

The government is now being urged to go one step further in its climbdown over medical cards, by refunding people for the costs the financial loss they were subjected to.

One mother, Noreen Keen told Newstalk Breakfast this morning that going public about living on her overdraft as a result of being denied a medical card for her son was "the most stressful thing she has ever done". She is calling on the Government to see her and other families' situations as more than just an "unintended consequence" of medical card withdrawals.

So should families who suffered financial loss due to medical card denials be compensated?