Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It will come from the HSE. We will have the position clarified. The change is that one does not now need a medical card to qualify for aids and appliances, but there is not an automatic entitlement to them.

A number of negotiations with the IMO are under way. Those that have concluded are on pay scales for new entrant consultants. The negotiations on medical cards for the under-sixes are still under way. If all goes according to plan, I hope and expect to be able to introduce the provision for the under-sixes by the middle of the year, but it is subject to the negotiations being successful. Once the process is completed – it can be by the middle of the year – we will begin negotiations with GPs on the new contract covering the whole population. It will replace the existing Erskine Childers contract which is a little out of date.