Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I live in the real world too. In the real world this relief costs €172 million. My concern is that if we were to make it more broadly available, there would be very considerable cost consequences. There is merit in making it applicable only to a form of relief in respect of which a general practitioner acts as a gatekeeper, for want of a better phrase. This repeats an argument we have had. We are discussing making the relief applicable to physiotherapists. The demand would then be extended to other healthcare services that many citizens access without a visit to a GP.