Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am interested to see this Bill. It is an important measure because it is vital that people have insurance, especially medical practitioners. I am surprised the Medical Council has not put its house in order before now. If doctors are practising without insurance, it is a very serious situation. I have a small plant hire business and I cannot go out on the road without insurance, without public liability and employer's liability insurance. I am appalled but why would I be surprised? It is 40 years since the GPs contracts were renegotiated.

The level of claims in this country has gone off the Richter scale completely and the advertising of legal eagles on a no win, no fee basis must be tackled. When will we have a Government that will tackle the racket that is going on and the enormous fees that are charged in this and other areas? I spoke to a chap recently whose house had never flooded and will never flood, because if it did so the whole village would flood, but whose bill went from €350 to €1,800. This is a hijacking of the situation in the country with people being flooded.

This Bill is a bit of a veneer being put on in the dying days of the Government. We have rural GPs and we have two standing in the general election, but the plight of rural GPs is perilous. I salute the work done by all GPs and their practice nurses and other staff in health centres. They are the front-line services and more and more people are abandoning emergency departments. They are getting their own blankets because none is provided by the hospital and they are going back to their GPs because they cannot get to be seen in hospitals. That is the legacy of the Government. The GP in my area has retired and I wish her well, but the HSE tells us we have a locum when we do not have a locum. They will not work if we do not pay them. The rural practice allowance is not being paid to 32 GPs in rural Ireland.

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