Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 May 2016
846. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health his progress in introducing free general practitioner care; the number of citizens in receipt of this; his plans to further roll out this care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10311/16]
View answer847. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the cost of introducing free general practitioner care to all persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10312/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 846 and 847 together.
GP care without fees has been successfully introduced for children under the age of 6 years and all people aged 70 years and over. This has resulted in approximately 800,000 people now being eligible for GP care without fees, without having to undergo a means test. The under 6s service includes age-based preventive checks focused on health and wellbeing and the prevention of disease, including asthma and diabetes care.
In Budget 2016, the Government made financial provision for the extension of GP care without fees to all children aged 6 to 11 years. It is envisaged that this third phase will bring the total number of those eligible for universal GP care, without having to be assessed by a means test, to approximately 1.2 million people. The Programme for Government commits to extending in phases, and subject to negotiation with GPs, the introduction of free GP care to under 18s.
The estimated additional cost of providing a universal general practitioner service to the entire population will depend on the future scope of the service, fees and payments to GPs, and eligibility rates. Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the Health Service Executive, the Department of Health and the Irish Medical Organisation in 2015, the parties have commenced talks on a new GP contract. However, in the absence of the specific future changes to the scope and content of the GP service, and the relevant fee structure, it would not be possible to provide a precise estimate in respect of the remainder of the population at this point.
