Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have heard the Taoiseach make the claim many times that there has been no change in medical card policy but every Member of the House knows that there is clearly a change on the ground. If we go back to Irish Water, the argument is that one has to charge for water because it is a publicly provided good and if it is free, people over-use it. That is the economic argument. We must charge people money for their water. GP care is a publicly provided service as well but here we are being told that it will now be free. We know from recent research that the average number of visits per year to a GP from people who do not have medical cards is three and that for those who have medical cards, the average number is eight.

I am not against reducing the cost. I believe that it should be affordable and that it is not affordable as of now. The GPs are unambiguously saying that if this is made free people will significantly over-use our finite service so they will end up spending time with people who do not need their service, which will take time and medical care away from people who do need it.

The GPs are telling us that general practice in Ireland is in crisis. A total of €160 million was withdrawn from the sector in the past four years. Today the IMO said that many general practices around the country are on a financial precipice. The GPs I met have said that they have had a 33% cut in public funding and a 50% cut in profits to their general practices. There is a false economy at work. I would love GP care to be free - I have two children under six - but it should not be free for those who cannot afford it, rather it should be affordable. Why is the Taoiseach going to direct finite and scarce health services to people who the GPs are saying will over-use them and who do not need them when the Government is taking medical cards away from others? I apologise if the matter did not come up at Cabinet yesterday. Is the Taoiseach, therefore, saying that there will be no opt-out for GPs from this scheme?

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