Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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It is not a question of "probably" costing more but rather a question of almost definitely costing more and the figures certainly support that contention.

I have one final question relating to general practice. There has been a suggestion, with which Sinn Féin agrees, that if the facility to order diagnostic tests is extended to GPs, this will have a positive impact on waiting lists. It is one thing to extend that facility but it is quite another to ensure the services are available. Has the Medical Council had discussions with the Department of Health on facilitating GPs to order diagnostic tests directly, which they currently cannot? Some of the logjam is caused by the fact that patients must be referred to a consultant before they can access diagnostic tests. In the event that the ability to order such tests is extended to GPs, the services and the physical infrastructure must be in place. Apart from that, are there other barriers? Has the Medical Council had any discussions with the HSE on this? Did it come up, for example, during the discussions on the revision of the GP contract?