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

The short answer is that it has not really helped. It does not solve the problem this morning, this afternoon, this evening or tonight when people are going to need to see their GPs. It is all very well to say there are X number of children in the system who are eligible for access to this scheme but it is actually completely useless to those people who simply cannot access it. I wonder if the Department of Health would give some consideration to reimbursing those parents who, through no fault of their own, cannot access the medical card for under sixes and are forced to pay because the service is not available in their areas? The Minister of State said that the HSE is not aware of instances in Balbriggan but in the next breath she asks how the HSE could be aware of the position, particularly as GPs manage their own panels. I have made the Minister of State aware of the facts.

If the Department of Health is aware, then I - and the people in Balbriggan who are waiting - would like to know what exactly the Minister of State can do to alleviate this problem in the short term. It is not acceptable that there are chronic waits. Quite apart from the fact that people cannot get these medical cards, they also cannot get appointments to see GPs in Balbriggan for two, three or four days. The GPs are already overburdened. I absolutely join the Minister of State in lauding the commitment of GPs. They do a fantastic job but they are only human. They are up to the limit of their capacity. We need to incentivise general practitioners to go to the areas they are needed and we must have salaried GPs if that is what is necessary. In the short term, we need to reimburse people who, through no fault of their own, are forced to attend and pay for GP services for children under six.

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