Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

On the extension of free GP care, the Minister stated that nothing is proposed on that for this year, which is quite disappointing given that over a five-year period, there was to be an incremental extension of free GP care to the entire population. We are probably the only country in Europe where the majority of patients have to fork out the full cost of visiting a GP, which very much goes against the principles in Sláintecare of early intervention and lowest complexity of care. I think it is a mistake not to accelerate that. I accept there are industrial relation, IR, issues but I urge the Minister to revisit the issue and try to accelerate the extension of free GP care because it makes sense on many levels.

Is the Minister doing anything specific to reduce drug costs in this country, both for the State and for individuals? As a proportion of the overall spend on health, they seem to be much higher than in most other European countries. We know from when people used to go abroad that the cost of medicines in other countries is often much lower. What is happening on that? It is not a sustainable percentage to spend on drugs.

My final question relates to the proposed restructuring and reform of the HSE. It was parked for a while last year with all that was going on. Where are we with that and when does the Minister expect recommendations and action to be taken on restructuring the HSE to make it more responsive and accountable at a regional level?