Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That may be true for a small number of patients on trolleys but generally speaking, it is the case that if somebody is on a trolley waiting for a hospital bed, that person is there because he or she has been seen by a doctor, or perhaps by two or three doctors, and those doctors have determined the person requires admission to a hospital. Consequently, the idea there is somehow a direct correlation between GP services and patients on trolleys is incorrect.

I appreciate the Government's term of office is almost at an end and the Dáil will be dissolved this week. The Deputy's question has two parts and the programme of Government will cease to exist as a live document this week. As for proposals being put forward by different parties for the general election, different parties of course will put forward different proposals. The proposal of my party is to extend GP care without fees to everyone under 18, as well as to provide for chronic disease management care for adults with common chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, heart failure and other things like that.

See this speech in context