Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My predecessor, now the Taoiseach, is committed to cracking the challenges once and for all as a country that face the health service and he made that clear in one of his first speeches as Taoiseach in this House. I share that view and that commitment.

I expect to make substantial progress on a new GP contract this year, but I am also saying that should not be the end of the matter. This will be a multi-annual process. Let us try and have a number of wins for patients and indeed wins for GPs who we need to be able to have a viable career pathway so we can have GPs in every community this year.

As well as expanding free GP care - in fairness the programme for Government commits to expanding free GP care to all children under the age of 18 subject to negotiations with GPs in the lifetime of a five-year programme - a priority for my Department and for me is to look at chronic disease management. We need to look at things that could be done today in the community, and in other countries are done in the community, that are currently being done in the acute hospital setting. I expect to make substantial progress within this calendar year.

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