The Junior Health Minister she may have to tell the Department they can't take any more money out of the health budget.
The Department of Health needs to find €666 million worth of cuts next year - and as part of that plan, they are reviewing the medical card scheme.
But Kathleen Lynch says you can't deliver a health service by continuously cutting.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning she reiterated that anyone who needs a medical card will get one:
Disabilities
The minister also spoke about the launch of a new inspection system for residential care centres for the disabled.
From today, HIQA has responsibility for the implementation of national standards in residential centres for people with disabilities. 1300 designated centres are catering for 9,000 disabled people.
Department has allocated 42 additional staff to HIQA to help them deal with increased workload.
