Ryan refused medical card for a fourth time

The devastated mother of a toddler with Down syndrome whose application for a medical card has been refused for a fourth time said she believes the HSE has washed its hands of her son because he will cost them too much in the long term.

Nichola Gilmartin, the mother of 16-month-old Ryan Gilmartin, discovered the application had again been rejected during the return trip to their Mayo home on Thursday, after she had travelled with him to Leinster House to hand in a petition calling for reform of the medical card system to be fast-tracked.

“I’m just so deflated, so annoyed and frustrated,” she said. “It’s like banging your head off a brick wall. I think they think Ryan is going to cost them too much money in the long term.”