Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Reid, Mr. Watt and the teams from the HSE and the Department of Health. Obviously, GPs play a pivotal role in the delivery of Sláintecare. They were before the committee a number of weeks ago and one of the issues they had related to the need for an establishment grant or a tax relief to establish practices. Do Mr. Reid and Mr. Watt believe this and will they lobby for this in their budget negotiations? I refer to Mr. Watt, in particular, with regard to his previous role.

I raised the notification of pension entitlements to staff in a Commencement debate in the Seanad last week. It takes more than a year before staff who are on the verge of retiring or may need to retire early due to burnout are notified of their pension entitlements. It also takes a number of months before the first pension check is received by hardworking front-line staff.