John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)

I accept many of the provisions in this Bill but I am disappointed at the absence of maximum pricing orders for doctors, as alluded to by my friend and compatriot, Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan. In spite of the recession and the deflationary trends in recent years, doctors' fees remain static or have increased. The average cost of a visit to a GP in Ireland is between €51 and €53 according to the most recent figures from the National Consumer Agency. In some cases, one can pay up to €70 in Dublin. This is more than double the amount paid in some EU states. Many people in Ireland are fed up with paying exorbitant fees for what they perceive to be an overpriced service. Anecdotal evidence suggests visits to GPs have fallen between 15% and 30% across the country. People tend to put off visits to the GP because they cannot afford it and this directly affects their health. Many current Government Members pressurised the former Minister, Ms Mary Harney, for failing to introduce maximum pricing orders to prevent hikes in GP prices. Statistics show that there are few developed countries where attending a GP is a major household budget decision. This is fundamentally wrong. Statistics show that one in two people now use the Internet as a port of call for health advice, but this is acknowledged by the health service as a dangerous trend. OECD statistics indicate that GPs in Ireland are paid more than those in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Sweden. Surely that is unacceptable. If a GP charges €55 for a five-minute visit, that works out at an hourly rate of €660, which is ridiculous and outrageous. It is too much to pay for low and middle income workers just above the medical card thresholds; as a result, they do not visit their GP when they should. It is abject exploitation that GPs continue to charge such prices. In bring forward the Bill the Government has utterly failed to tackle one of the most fundamental issues affecting thousands of households - the cost of visiting a GP. It is unfortunate that this matter has not been dealt with in the Bill. At a later stage, the Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, should do what she said she would do when in opposition, that is, introduce a maximum pricing mechanism for GPs whose costs affect too many people on the wrong side of the medical card thresholds. Even those who have one at present-----

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