Paul Bradford
Ceist:58 Mr. Bradford asked the Minister for Health the number of general practitioners who will be paid the 50/50 cash back on drug savings; and when these funds will be paid.
Written Answers. - GMS Scheme.
Dinny McGinley
Ceist:71 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for Health the number of general practitioners who will be paid the 50/50 cash back on drug savings; and when these funds will be paid.
Nora Owen
Ceist:158 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Health the number of general practitioners that will be paid the 50/50 cash back on drug savings; and when these funds will be paid.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 58, 71 and 158 together.
As the Deputies will be aware, the agreement reached with the Irish Medical Organisation in November 1992 on the General Medical Services Scheme included the introduction of an indicative drug target scheme. The structure of the scheme means that 50 per cent of all savings made by individual GPs on their target expenditure will be returned to those GPs for investment in agreed practice development. This scheme is being operated over the course of the calendar years 1993 and 1994.
As prescriptions for the month of December 1993 are currently being processed for payment, the end of the year position has not yet been established. I am not yet in a position to give the information requested by the Deputies.