HEALTH Minister James Reilly has been asked to investigate the lengthy processing times for new medical card applications and renewals on foot of complaints about the new centralised processing system based in Finglas, Co Dublin.

"It appears the initial 15 day turnaround for applications through the new centralised system has now pushed out to 30 days, while in some cases a decision is still pending after months. It also appears that renewal applications are taking an equally long time to process with repeated requests for documentation," said Minister Sherlock this week.

"This issue is causing a lot of frustration to both me as a Public Representative and my constituents particularly those in worsening financial circumstances who have applied for a medical card. I am also concerned at the lack of priority assessment for those with terminal illness and significant health problems," he added.

Minister Sherlock said he has written to Minister James Reilly seeking his intervention on the matter.

"I have asked Minister Reilly to address this issue as a matter of urgency. I acknowledge the volume of medical card applications has more than doubled in the past year but feel strongly that something must be done to get applications processed in a more timely fashion." he stated.