Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure if the Minister of State is aware of the issue involving over-capacity difficulties regarding children under six for GP care. The reality would have been lost in a lot of the hoopla, backslapping and self-congratulation that went on around the granting of medical cards to children under the age of six. The unfortunate reality is that the failure to plan on the part of this Government and that which preceded it has now manifested itself. In north county Dublin, it is quite a feature but especially so in the town of Balbriggan. The latter has a very young population and we can expect to see a surge in the number of children under six in the next couple of years.

By way of illustration, I will speak about a woman I know called Louise - we have the same name. Louise is married and has three children, two of whom have special needs. She can practically see a doctor's surgery from her home but her children and her family are registered with a doctor in Malahide. Should her young children require the services of a GP, they must travel from Balbriggan to Malahide. As they do so, they drive past dozens of doctors' surgeries. The surgeries in Balbriggan are full to capacity. It is not possible for a large number of parents such as Louise to be able to access those services because they are full to capacity. Louise, therefore, has a choice. When one of her young kids has an ear infection or something that would require a visit to the GP's office she can bundle her family into the car and face in to the inevitable traffic, and all that goes with it, to see the GP in Malahide or she can put her hands in her pocket to find €45, go across the road and try to see the local doctor. If she is lucky, she will get an appointment after two or three days. Louise is not unique in this regard. This is an everyday occurrence. Parents cannot find a doctor willing to take them and, therefore, they cannot register. Their children do not have access then to the GP services that the Minister of State and the people who sit on that side of the House were busy high-fiving each other about and congratulating each other on granting. It is utterly useless to people in Balbriggan who cannot register with their GP and who are left without these vital services.

Families are being forced to spend money they do not have for a service of which the Minister of State is busy telling them they can avail. They cannot avail of it. I want to know what will be done to alleviate the pressure because it is not going to go away. If anything, it is actually going to get worse.

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