Prisoners to get medical card when they leave jail

All prisoners will be given a medical card on the day they leave prison as part of a new agreement between the HSE and the Irish Prison Service (IPS).

In a move that is likely to anger families and groups that have campaigned for cards, Michael Donnellan, the IPS director general, confirmed that medical cards will be automatically issued to all prisoners once they are released.

The process has already begun at Cork Prison, where Mr Donnellan said they were “going to test the system for the next few weeks, but it is going nationwide”.