Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

On the bigger questions about funding and the model, as Deputy Ó Caoláin will be aware, the Minister, Deputy Reilly, established the UHI implementation group earlier this year. That expert group, drawn from a wide range of expertise in different fields, has been tasked with drawing up a White Paper on UHI, and the aim is to have that White Paper before the end of the year.

Separately, I established the universal primary care project team, which is working through all of the issues involved in developing primary care. It is not only about the introduction of free GP care. It is about all the other elements as well - ensuring there are sufficient allied health professionals in the right places and there is decent accommodation for primary care centres. Work is also being done in respect of the contract. Many different issues are being addressed and one of the most important of these is ring-fencing the budget relating to primary care. The budget in respect of such care has never previously been ring-fenced.

We are going to phase in the introduction of free GP care this year, starting with the category of people to whom I already referred. The budget for this year is €15 million and we expect to have a similar amount next year. We are working through how we might devise the regulations in order to ensure the phasing-in process is done in the most appropriate way. We do not want to become involved in the expensive business of means testing. We are, therefore, taking the approach of identifying different categories, namely, those which contain people who are most sick, and ensuring they will be included in the initiative at as early a stage as possible. The overall timescale will be four years. Everyone will eventually be covered by then.

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