The Our Children's Health pressure group has said there has been no sign as yet of a more flexible approach from the HSE to handling applications for discretionary medical cards for people with special medical needs.

It says this is despite a recent promise from the health executive to adopt a more flexible approach to this process.

Our Children's Health says children who are applying for a discretionary card for the first time fall outside recent provisions for the suspension of discretionary card reviews and the return of cards to those who have recently had them taken away.

"The HSE undertook to 'flex' the existing system as much as possible to accommodate new medical card applicants. As yet we have received no detail and seen no evidence of an improved approach from the HSE to new applicants."

The group has called on Health Minister James Reilly and the HSE to introduce temporary measures that will immediately ease the application process for new applicants and accommodate children living with serious illness or congenital conditions.

The Cabinet is due to decide today on proposals to return discretionary cards to those who have lost them in the now abandoned review process.

The Government has already decided to make legislative changes to allow medical need to be used for the first time as eligibility for qualification for a medical card. However, this new system is unlikely to be put in place until late this year.

A HSE expert group is drawing up proposals on the new eligibility scheme.