Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

These decisions are made for medical and business reasons by the doctors' practices and the many medical companies that are involved in this sector nowadays. Very good progress has been made with this initiative, which has been discussed in this country over a long period of time. The number of GPs signing up has actually been very good in my constituency and in most of the suburbs on the north and west sides of Dublin. That is important for the families of the children involved. As Deputy Kelleher is aware, parents will very shortly be able to apply online to register their under sixes to receive GP services from local medical practitioners. I understand there are specific problems in some areas of the country. While the figures have been extremely high in places like County Donegal and the west and north sides of Dublin, they are rather disappointingly lower at the moment in places like County Tipperary. The Deputy mentioned that there are problems in Cork. I believe all of these problems can be addressed over time. Obviously, medical practitioners have to make these decisions. I believe the under sixes GP card is good for the health of all children under the age of six. We will be rolling out the provisions for people over the age of 70 the following month. We have ambitions to extend this initiative further in line with the programme I agreed with the Taoiseach when I was appointed as Tánaiste. It is intended to roll it out to other primary school children and ultimately to all children under the age of 18.

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