Mr. John Hennessy:

Obviously, we would prefer if it was better than it is at present. The emphasis is on trying to negotiate with GPs in such a way that their level of co-operation with the developments taking place in primary care is improved. By and large, that improvement is occurring. The recent developments with the GP contract regarding improved access for children under six years of age and people over 70, and the negotiation process around that, have improved the atmosphere between the HSE and general practice considerably. However, this is an area on which we must work further. We have close liaison with the representative bodies and with the Irish College of General Practitioners. The Minister for Health is extremely interested in this as well. We are making progress on it. Many of the new primary care centres have strong general practitioner participation and we hope that pattern will continue and improve.