James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are still very much in that process because the answer to the question is contingent upon implementing the reforms. Going back to the key principle of our health policy, it relates to ensuring the patient is seen at the lowest level of complexity that is safe, timely, efficient and as near home as possible. That means we do not want consultants looking after patients who could be looked after by GPs, GPs or consultants looking after patients who could be looked after by nurses, nurses looking after patients who should be looked after by health care assistants and any of those groups looking after patients who should be looked after by allied health care professionals like physiotherapists and others. Unfortunately, because of the way the system has been allowed to evolve, if I as a GP want to get physiotherapy for a private patient without a medical card who cannot afford to go to a physiotherapist privately, I must refer him or her to an orthopaedic or rheumatology clinic. This is ridiculous because it is wasting the patient's time waiting for an outpatient's appointment at a clinic that I do not think they should go to, to move on to see the allied health care professional they need to see. We are putting in place ways of dealing with that. I will probably have to come back to somebody else on this.

See this speech in context