Vol. 421 No. 8
159 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health if he will make a statement on the Irish Medical Times report dated 5 June that a radical plan which could exempt many general practitioners from having to pay the controversial withholding tax is to be presented to his Department by the Department of Finance shortly; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
161 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health if he has any proposals to compensate general practitioners through the payment of a special allowance for working in deprived areas and living in those same areas as working in the areas in question poses different problems from other parts of the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
165 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health if he will make a statement on recent reports (details supplied) that his Department may consider the introduction of measures which would enable GPs to be responsible for their own practice budgets; and if he will make a statement on the matter outlining the way in which this can be implemented.
170 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health if he will confirm that the 17.5 per cent pay deal for GPs in the GMS scheme will be implemented in December with back pay next January as he is reported to have stated at the recent IMO agm.
171 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health if he will make a statement on the recent agreement between his Department and the Association of GPs which will mean that general practitioners are reimbursed the percentage of their medical defence premia by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 159, 161, 165, 170 and 171, together. The Deputy will be aware that the Review of the General Medical Service is now underway and that in the context of that review a wide range of issues of concern to participating general practitioners are under consideration. These issues include the manner in which withholding tax is applied to general practitioners, the implementation of the 17.5 per cent arbitration award to GMS doctors, the possibility of introducing innovative pilot projects such as prescribing budgets for individual practices and the question of adapting the existing GMS contract to reflect the particular difficulties being experienced on the ground in different geographic locations. While I do not wish to comment in detail on any specific matter currently under discussion in the context of the Review, I can assure the Deputy that all of the issues raised in his questions will be given full and detailed consideration by the management side representatives.
I received Government approval to the acceptance of the Arbitrator's findings on GMS doctors' fees on the basis that the implementation of the findings would be negotiated in the context of the current GMS contract discussions, as suggested by the Arbitrator in his report and that on the successful completion of these discussions, the revised rates will be paid on 1 December 1992 with full retrospection on 1 January 1993. This decision has been conveyed to the Irish Medical Organisation.
In relation to the reimbursement of medical indemnity insurance the position is that arising out of the recommendations of the 1990 Interim (Horgan) Review of the 1989 GMS contract all participating doctors have a portion of their medical indemnity insurance refunded. Following a recent meeting with the Association of General Practitioners I decided, in equity, to extend this arrangement to the small number of fee-per-item doctors not comprehended by the 1989 contract. At that meeting I was presented with a submission from the Association in relation to the withholding tax issue which I agreed to forward to the Minister for Finance and to the GMS Review for consideration.
