Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government contains a commitment to legislate on the issue of Cabinet confidentiality. Will the Taoiseach indicate when that legislation will be brought forward? Given the selective and random manner in which the Government decides that it wants to breach Cabinet confidentiality, in its efforts to manage and control news and engage in spin, will the Taoiseach indicate whether he is proposing a more liberal regime in this regard? This is a very relevant question in view of all the memos that are being circulated at random by Ministers.

The programme for Government gives an undertaking that during this Government's term, GP training places will be increased, GPs will be encouraged to defer retirement, doctors will be recruited from abroad and the number of practice nurses will be increased. Does the Taoiseach accept that the opposite is happening, with young GPs emigrating in alarming numbers, incomes dropping dramatically and GP morale at an all-time low? The legislation the Government promised in the programme for Government to deal with all aspects of primary care provision has not yet been delivered and many promises have been broken in this regard. When can we expect the universal primary care Bill and when will we see additional GPs, as promised in the programme for Government? Can we take it that the commitment to provide free GP care for those with long-term illnesses will not be met? Is there any prospect of discretionary medical cards being restored to the most ill and most vulnerable, including children with multiple disabilities, when the proposals for free GP care for children aged under six are introduced?

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