Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It gives me great pleasure to support the Bill which provides for a universal GP service for everyone over the age of 70 years. This is a significant and important step on the road towards free GP care for the entire population. The Bill will also provide a much-needed boost for pensioners because, regardless of their income or means, all persons over the age of 70 years will have access to free GP services. In addition, it provides that dependants, including spouses and partners under 70 years of age, will have access to GP services free of charge in circumstances where the existing income qualifying criteria are met.

When introducing the Bill, the Minister of State indicated that general or family practices were often viewed as being at the core of the primary care system. I support her view. The confidence patients build up in those who work in their local practices helps to alleviate a great deal of the fear and dread which senior citizens and others have when faced with medical problems.

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The new arrangements will allow greater confidence in the relationship between the GP and the patient. The young couples who will be bringing their children under the age of six years to their GPs will be commencing a lifetime of medical care with that doctor or primary care centre. It is a question of building confidence over a period of time.

I had to deal with a sad family incident recently. It was gratifying to see the level of confidence my family had in our own GP, who had been caring for my family for many years. His support for my family during that sad occasion had to be seen to be believed. The same could be said for the consultants who treated Anne. That confidence meant that we could approach them and ask them questions. We could be assured that they were giving us accurate information. That type of relationship offers me an assurance about the service's ability to improve.

Young couples need to have the confidence that they can develop a strong relationship with their GPs as their children grow towards adulthood. This Bill will foster that confidence. The two age groups provided for in this and the previous Bills are only the first steps, and I hope that during the lifetime of the next Government similar GP services will be made available to everyone. In this way we will ensure that people need not fear to attend their GPs with illnesses or other problems and thereby improve the general health of the country.

In his opening statement, the Minister for Health referred to persons with permanent conditions who are finding it difficult under the current medical card scheme to gain admission to hospitals. All of us have encountered problems of this nature through our constituency clinics. The people who are admitted to hospital will attest to receiving a wonderful service from the commencement of treatment onwards. They are more than satisfied with the system. The big problem is the waiting list. I hope the Minister will investigate that problem.

The previous speaker referred to a number of issues. In a perfect world these issues would have been dealt with but his own party created the problems that mean we are not living in a perfect world. Unfortunate decisions had to be made but we are taking another step towards rectifying the problems created after 2008 by wild decisions of the previous Government. Signs of progress can be seen throughout the country. I readily admit that the progress is not fast enough but we are at least ensuring that the progress we make will make a difference. There is no doubt that the decision by the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, and the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to provide free GP care for those under six years or over 70 years is a step in the right direction. I hope further efforts will be made during the lifetime of this Government to address problems in respect of hospital waiting lists. I commend the Minister and the Minister of State on their efforts thus far to address the many problems created by the previous Government. There is understandable criticism about expenditure on health services but that is not the fault of the Minister or the Minister of State, who are trying to rectify the problems created for them. I believe the HSE, working with representative bodies of medical professionals and the Department of Health, will improve to the point where it matches the best in Europe.

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