Olivia Mitchell
Question:14 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Health and Children the amount of funding provided annually to the primary care strategy for each of the years 2001 to 2004, inclusive [18399/04]
View answerTuesday, 22 June 2004
Questions (17)
Written answers
In 2002 development funding of €5 million was provided to support the implementation of the strategy. An additional €2 million was allocated in 2003 and brought the ongoing additional development funding to €7 per annum. In 2002 €2 million in capital funding and a further €1 million in respect of information and communications technology supports was also provided.
Since the strategy was published I have also provided significant further support for the development of general practice out-of-hours co-operatives. Additional funding of €17.3 million was provided in 2002 and a further €4.14 million in 2003. Therefore, an additional €21.44 million is now included in the base funding. It is in addition to the substantial funding already in the system for the delivery of a wide range of primary and community care services. The strategy identified that a significant component of the development of primary care teams, in the short to medium term, would involve the reorientation of existing staff and resources.