Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Harty. I certainly agree with the last statement that he made, namely, that we need to see a new GP contract and the service to be underpinned properly by that. Under the framework agreement that was entered into between the HSE, the Department of Health and the IMO in June 2014, a process was agreed under which the parties could negotiate on all publicly funded health sector contracts, including general practice and General Medical Services, GMS. In this context, the parties have committed to negotiations on a new GP contract to replace existing arrangements. These talks have commenced. The Deputy will be aware that the Minister for Health has met the representative bodies. He has had very good individual meetings with both of them, but I agree as well with what the Deputy said, namely, that we need to plan ahead, given the ageing population that we have. People are living longer and their needs will be greater and more diverse. We also have the highest birth rate in Europe. Huge pressures are building up on GP services.

We have increased the health budget in recent weeks. We have made very clear in this partnership Government our commitment to primary care. There is a clear consensus that is the best approach for patients. We need to look at how to advance that. We have the all-party health committee and we have the agreement in respect of rural practices that was reached last year.

I am informed by the Minister for Health that he intends to consult and engage further with the stakeholders in primary care in the autumn, hopefully in September. This engagement will include GPs, dentists, pharmacists and others to consider how best to ensure joined-up thinking, greater integration and the world-class integrated primary care service that we absolutely need around the country.

Deputy Harty said that during the negotiations on the programme for Government, we agreed on building GP capacity to respond to patient needs, for example, by providing access to X-rays, ultrasound and other investigations and through the expansion of chronic disease management in general practice. We have made progress but it will require additional GPs. Recruiting GPs remains a challenge for the health service. We will need to identify the clear pathways for patients from GP care to hospital care, etc.

There will be further discussions from September onwards. The Minister is hopeful in this regard, and we have made progress. Already we have 90 primary care centres across the State, with 47 having been delivered in the past five years despite the economic circumstances. Another 80 will be built by 2021. We have delivered free GP care to children under six. However, we want to see progress being made on the GP contract.

See this speech in context