Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 March 2022
974. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health the status of the proposal announced in Budget 2022 to extend an automatic entitlement to free general practitioner visit cards in 2022 to children under eight years of age; when it will be introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14529/22]
View answerThe Government is committed to increasing access to GP care without charges for children, an important healthcare measure that will remove a potentially prohibitive cost barrier to accessing GP care and will help to improve children’s health as they develop. At present all children up to and including the age of 5 are eligible for a GP visit card and therefore GP care without charges.
The Health (General Practitioner Service and Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Act 2020 provides, amongst other things, for the phased expansion of GP care without fees to all children aged 12 years and under in three phases: to children aged 6 and 7; to children aged 8 and 9; and to children aged 10,11 and 12. Budget 2022 provides for the initial stage of this phased expansion, the provision of GP care without fees to all children aged 6 and 7. My officials and the HSE are currently engaged in preparatory work for the expansion. Consultations with the IMO, representing GPs, are set to begin by the end of this month.
