It's been revealed that 1 thousand 190 discretionary medical cards have been taken away since the start of this year.

The Public Accounts Committee has heard that a total of 9 hundred thousand medical cards were up for review this year.

But the H-S-E was unable to say how many of these were discretionary.

The Government has suspended the review of discretionary cards, pending new legislation to offer cards on medical condition, instead of the cost of medication and treatment.