Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I note that she has raised this matter on a number of occasions, but the sad fact is that the practice continues. The Minister of State said it is being continued by a minority of GPs. I can assure her that the majority of GPs are charging medical card holders for blood tests.

Should a test case be taken against a GP? I cite the vice-president of the Irish Medical Organisation, Dr. Ronan Boland and Dr. Mary Gray, who has said that the IMO received legal advice that routine blood testing was not part of their contract. She said if any action were taken against a GP the IMO believed it would be on solid legal ground to defend it. I believe we should take a test case against one of these doctors and establish whether they have a legal right to charge for this service.

Do we need to introduce legislation to ensure the HSE contract requires doctors not to charge for blood tests? Will the new contract referred to by the Minister of State ensure all loopholes such as this are closed? Patients who are scared and worried do not want to have a conflict with their GPs with whom they have built up long and trusting relationships. Public representatives such as myself do not want to report GPs on behalf of constituents because this can also lead to a breakdown in trust. We must ensure this does not happen in the future.

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