David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have to stop the Minister there because, this is the problem. I said it to the Minister at the time. They raised concerns before the Government made its announcement. Their concerns were well known. There was no consultation with them. When representatives of the Irish College of General Practitioners, ICGP, were before the committee, I asked whether there had been any consultation with their organisation by the Minister for Health prior to the announcement at budget time and they said that there was not. It seems that the Minister went off half-cocked and made an announcement, giving a date that cannot be delivered. Now he is telling us that he only realised the IMO had concerns subsequent to that. They were well rehearsed and in the public domain.

This was something that also emerged when we were trying to roll out free GP care for children aged six and seven years. My point is that the Minister failed to plan. He set a target that could not be met in order to have a big announcement on budget day. Here we are with 1 April gone by and it has not been delivered. I do not accept that as an excuse. What I am looking for now is the new date. When is this going to be delivered? When will the Minister deliver it?