Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is an agreement to engage, not an agreement of finality and closure on the issues. Anyway, I wish the exercise success; let us make no mistake about it. There is no other way but to sit down and hammer out the issues, and I welcome the development today as the essential first step.

We also need to take into account the legitimate concerns of GPs regarding the under-resourcing of primary care. I have no doubt that this will also be a factor to be addressed. This was made clear in an IMO presentation to the Joint Committee on Health and Children only yesterday. The organisation stated that the workload of GPs had increased while resources have been cut. The number of patients with a medical card and GP visit card has increased by 500,000 in the past six years while resources have been cut by €160 million. The Government spends only 2% of total health expenditure, public and private, on general practice - I expect the Minister of State is fully conversant with the statistics - compared to 9% north of the Border in the Six Counties and in Britain. Practices are struggling. I accept that this is factually the situation not only in the circumstances of GPs that I know and those I have met personally but in many practices throughout the State which are struggling financially and in terms of capacity. This is neither a tolerable nor sustainable position for the future.

Simply put, the Government must go back to the drawing board with this Bill. In any and all of the points I have made I am keen to see in-built within the legislation a commitment to a timetabled roll-out of universal access and, initially, to free GP care across the board. This is essential for wider public buy-in to what the Bill provides for. As I have said, I will not reserve my position. As I have indicated from the outset, my intention and my colleagues' intention is to support its passage. I hope the Minister of State will be able to allay my fears in respect of the Government's follow-on intent.

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