Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It was reported that about 10% of GPs have taken up the termination of pregnancy service. A couple of GPs have contacted me regarding an anomaly within the system. The example I have been given is a girl in west Dublin with a full medical card who had to travel to another part of Dublin to get a GP to carry out her termination of pregnancy. There is an anomaly within the PCRS. Any GP providing the service can claim the fees for the termination of pregnancy but that same GP, who is not the person's regular GP, cannot prescribe Implanon or another long-acting reversible form of contraception. It seems like a missed opportunity when the individual looking for the termination of pregnancy is eligible under the medical card system. This is not about getting extra eligibility. It is about someone who is already deemed eligible for medical card services being able to avail of services such as the insertion of Implanon by the GP who carries out the termination of pregnancy in the short period of time - either on the day or a short period of time thereafter. My understanding is that it is just a matter of the PCRS allowing within the portal for the GP performing the termination to claim as opposed to the default GP with whom the girl is registered in her own area. Am I making any sense?