The limit on earnings for free Medication is currently €201.00

When you hit OAP status at 66 or 67 you lose the free Medication facility but under €330 approximately, you keep your Doctor visit.

Surly the OAP's like me are being victimized because of their age, and the government has been given another big wage increase, they do not care about the poorer people in this country.

You are 56 ???? Hardly an OAP

Yeah, what's the story Longballs?

Miss type

Funny how common that is on message boards.
People mean to type 65 and type 50 by accident.

Your use-case is not really clear.
Is the old age pension not a bit over €248? Thus more than the €201 that you mention? Would you keep working for less than €201/week till you are 70 and ask your pension not to be paid before then?

Also by the time you hit 70, you'll get a free medical card: would you rather the gvt does not positively discriminate based on age then?

Also at under €210 a week, can you not avail of a medical card: when you hit 66, if you no longer qualify, you can ask them for a 2 years extension based on circumstances.

Can you clarify your use-case and what rules apply to it in a more precise manner, before crying wolf?
Maybe you just got poorly informed on how these work? Have you got enough PRSI contributions to qualify for any sort of relief that you may not know about? Someone here more informed about benefits might tell us. I don't know enough to answer: I only know enough to be confused by your post.

I have been on to the department and €201 is the limit.

I am a cancer patient and incapable of work before this, I was on Invalidity Pension.

By free medication, do you mean the medical card, or another scheme?

Medical card we are discussing. I can't afford VHI plus they only allow you a percentage.

If you are a cancer patient then your medical costs would be quite high (Chemotherapy isn't like other medications, most prescribed medications are bought by the government and prescribed to the patient but Chemo is bought by the doctor directly from the seller and then the doctor more or less sells it to the patient) so you might be able to make a case under undue hardship but unfortunately at the moment only under 18's with cancer are automatically entitled to a med card without having to go through a means test so it depends really on who reviews your application.

Saying that there are some other options available to you, if you are really struggling financially then you could contact the Marie Keating Foundation, they have what they call a Comfort Fund ( https://www.mariekeating.ie/cancer-services/comfortfund/ ) where they help cancer sufferers with medical costs, utility bills, travel costs and stuff like that and you might find some more help here ( https://www.mariekeating.ie/cancer-information/cancer-support-ser etc ... )

Either way you should definitely get a GP visit card (if you qualify) and a Drugs Payment Scheme card (everyone is entitled to that regardless of their income)