Michael Ring
Ceist:635. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Justice the number of visits that An Garda Síochána has made under a scheme (details supplied) from 1 January 2017 to date, in tabular form. [51112/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 18 October 2022
Ceisteanna (635)
Freagraí scríofa
As the Deputy will appreciate, as Minister I have no role in internal Garda HR matters which are matters for the Commissioner's remit. To be of assistance I have contact the Garda authorities and been advised of the following in relation to the scheme referred to.
The "Doctors of Choice Scheme", also referred to as the Doctors’ Payments Scheme, came into effect on 1 January 2012. Under this Scheme Garda members can attend a doctor from an established panel. Where a serving member visits a doctor from the panel they are not required to pay the doctor for a consultation fee, rather the doctor will be paid from a central fund. In order for the doctor to receive payment the member must complete a certificate of attendance at the time of consultation in line with Garda HQ Directive 135/2011.
Where a member visits a doctor who is not registered on the Garda panel of doctors, they must pay the doctor directly for the consultation and may seek reimbursement through normal channels.
The table below, provided to me by the Garda authorities, lists the number of Garda visits to GPs availed of under the scheme. Figures are from 01 January 2017 to 14 October 2022.
|
Year |
Number of Doctor Visits |
|
2017 |
42,746 |
|
2018 |
43,820 |
|
2019 |
43,351 |
|
2020 |
47,373 |
|
2021 |
31,629 |
|
2022 |
30,919 |