Medical card savings cut to €25m

Deeply unpopular plans to slash €113m from the medical cards system have been cut to just €25m after an intense two-month internal government battle.

However, tens of thousands of current medical card holders will still be stripped of the vital service within weeks, while some of the €88m difference will be spread across the rest of health service.

The situation will be revealed today as part of the HSE’s long-delayed 2014 service plan, which details the exact level of cuts to be imposed in the next 12 months. The report was due to include €666m worth of budget reductions.