Bernard Allen
Ceist:278 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the implications of the recent European Court of Justice ruling on the working conditions of primary health care doctors. [26960/00]
Written Answers. - Hospital Doctors.
My Department has been advised by the Health Service Employers Agency that the key point of the European Court of Justice, ECJ, ruling was that if doctors are required to be present at the health centre for on-call purposes, time spent on-call must be regarded in its entirety as working time, and where appropriate, overtime. If they are merely required to be contactable, only the time linked to the actual provision of primary health care must be regarded as working time.
In Ireland, general practitioners generally do not provide on-call service from health centres, but respond to house calls from their own homes. It is unlikely therefore that the ECJ ruling in respect of the Spanish case will have any significant implications for primary health care doctors in Ireland.