Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I agree with what she has said and I am heartened by it. Unfortunately, this issue has dragged on for far too long. I am asking today for the restoration of the payment of rural practice allowances that are tied down to 20 practices that are currently in operation, as well as the restoration of payments in respect of other practices that have fallen away because of the absence of rural practice allowances. I understand that a new proposal for rural general practice will have to be introduced and agreed as part of the negotiations on modernisation that are currently under way. As that will take time, I propose that the payment of these allowances be reinstated as a gesture of goodwill. They were taken away overnight, and I am asking for them to be restored overnight as well.

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