Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. We could have this debate until we see the roll-out of universal free general practitioner care, but there is an interim period. As the Minister of State has limited resources and limited opportunity to introduce the various policies, she has to prioritise and make decisions in the context of what cohorts get the various resources. The Central Statistics Office publishes reports regularly, and one of these, which deals with life expectancy and health outcomes in the various socioeconomic groupings, has been commented on by the Irish Cancer Society and others. As late as this morning it was revealed that there is a widening gap between health outcomes in the various income groupings in Cork North Central and parts of Cork South Central. While we are talking about health outcomes in the context of the Department's reasoning for rolling out universal general practitioner care, the reality is that people from poor backgrounds with socioeconomic problems have poorer health outcomes. With regard to children under six years of age, how does one square that circle in terms of priority?

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