Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I assure the Deputy that the Government is committed to the development of primary care services and GP care throughout the country. This is one reason for the clear commitment in the programme for Government to provide for free GP care during the Government's lifetime. It is also one of the reasons we will start debating a Bill this evening on opening up access to the General Medical Services, GMS, scheme. I am working on expanding the number of GP training places, as we want 90% of health care activity to occur at primary care level. During the coming months and years, we will roll out reforms to enable this health activity to take place as close as possible to patients, which is where people want to be treated. It makes sense.

Ensuring access to out-of-hours GP care is part and parcel of the reforms, as it makes sense from the patients' point of view to deal with people's conditions early and before they become serious enough to warrant a trip to hospital. This approach also takes pressure off the hospitals. We will discuss this point during Private Members' business.

I pay tribute to the work of NoWDOC in providing a range of services in the north west during the past ten years. However, it is the contractual responsibility of GPs to ensure out-of-hours cover is provided. While the HSE provides the infrastructure and support services, for example, receptionists, drivers and so on, it is primarily the responsibility of the GPs to ensure that they adhere to the terms of their contracts. The HSE is waiting for the proposals to be returned by the GPs involved to determine the arrangements it will make to ensure the existing cover in the north west is maintained.

I am not in a position to respond on the issue of speed limits, but I will take it on board and determine what can be done.

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