My Department has been made aware of a number of instances of customers being asked by individual GPs to pay a fee in order to receive a medical certificate. This is at variance with the Department's contract under which the GP is obliged to complete and return specified medical report forms (including medical certificates), free of charge to the patient, when requested to do so by the Department. In general, GPs have been advised that the imposition of any charge breaches their contract. The reported instances of possible charging for these services will be followed up with the individual practitioners concerned.
In addition, the Department has and is engaged in a consultation process with the Irish Medical Organization (IMO) - a longstanding representative body with a broad range of GPs in its membership – over recent months. It is hoped that this process can be brought to a successful conclusion shortly and that agreement can be concluded on a range of issues including e-certification, closed certification and changes to the forms in use for medical certification
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
