Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Everybody accepts that primary care is the way to address the challenges being faced in the delivery of health care. The Minister himself has consistently stated that if it is possible to increase the capacity of the primary care system or to enhance the ability to deal with chronic disease and chronic illness, it will have an impact on overcrowding in the emergency departments. The point I make is that while there is overcrowding at present in GP practices nationwide, they are incapable of dealing with complex issues. They are under huge time pressure and if one contemplates ensuring that people are dealt with in the area of least complexity, that is, in the GP services or at home, one must increase primary care capacity. However, the Government has singularly failed to do this. All the Government has consistently stated was it intended to roll out universal GP access to everybody. This has not happened and in the meantime, there has been an undermining of the capacity of GP services nationwide to deliver health care in the primary care setting.

All in all, as this Dáil comes to an end, the Minister must accept the Government's health policy has been a disaster from start to finish. Every benchmark or index on which the Government wishes to adjudicate its success or failure shows it has singularly failed in every area.

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