Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 March 2024
673. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health to detail the cohorts of asylum seekers that are entitled to a medical card; if an entitlement to a medical card guarantees a person a place on a GP list; and if he is concerned that given that many citizens cannot get on to a GP list, this policy could be damaging to social cohesion. [10160/24]
View answerA person seeking International Protection, on a weekly allowance, is entitled to a medical card.
In accordance with the GMS contract, where a person who holds a medical card or GP visit card experiences difficulty in finding a GP to accept them as a patient, having unsuccessfully applied to at least three GPs in the area (or fewer if there are fewer GPs in the area), that person can apply to the HSE National Medical Card Unit which has the power to assign such persons to a GP's GMS patient list.
Persons who do not hold a medical card or GP visit card access GP services on a private basis and can make enquiries directly to any GP practice they wish to register with. As private practitioners, it is a matter for each individual GP to decide whether to accept additional private patients.
The Government is committed to Increasing eligibility for free GP services. In 2023, the financial threshold for eligibility for a GP visit card was increased to the median household income. This will make up to 430,000 people eligible for a GP visit card.
The Department of Health is working to increase the number of GPs practicing in the State and thereby improve access to GP services across the country for everyone. Several measures have been taken to increase GP capacity, including increasing investment in general practice, increasing the number of doctors training to become GPs, and establishing the non-EU GP Training Programme to rapidly bring more GPs to Ireland.
