Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

That issue of a limit being placed on incontinence pads should never have arisen and that decision has been reversed. It is no longer the case. It was unfortunate it happened, it should not have happened, and it has been dealt with.

On contractual changes, it is not envisaged there will need to be a change to the GP contract to begin the process of introducing free GP care. It is true what Deputy Kelleher stated, that the existing system operates on a means basis. That is why we are introducing legislation to enable us to provide by regulation for certain categories of person to be given a doctor visit card. That is the purpose of the legislation.

We do not foresee that causing difficulties with or any concerns about the contract. What we have seen over recent years with the recession is a big increase in the number of medical cards issued and GPs have taken on that additional work. There is no reason the extension of the doctor visit card should cause any difficulty. I do not foresee that being a problem.

I have had informal discussions. I made it clear to the ICGP from the beginning. I outlined Government policy, the plans we are making and the preparatory work that is under way through the universal primary care project team. I also met the IMO on a couple of occasions recently to outline the preparatory work that is going on. We will be engaging more closely as the legislation develops. We are applying a good deal of pressure to get it through before the summer.

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