Medical card fiasco cost at least €37m

FORMER Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy's department left it until the last minute to inform the Department of Health that he was extending the medical card scheme to everyone over 70.

The Department of Health underestimated the number of those who qualified and the initiative cost the taxpayer at least €37 million more than had been anticipated in the first full year.

The full scale of the fiasco emerged when the Dáil Public Accounts Committee published its 2001 report yesterday.