John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have had promises from the Minister before that the funding was secured for this in 2016. He took to social media and the airwaves to announce that it would be rolled out in the early part of 2017. No explanation was ever given to his constituents, the people who desperately need this and lie waiting for 72 hours for a GP who never shows up. An explanation is due to those people and to the GPs who had signed up to the new north-east Wicklow doctor on call service which was due to be rolled out in February 2017. No explanation or apology was ever given to those people. While the Minister's words here today are welcome, they are taken with a pinch of salt because we have not seen the tender documents or no negotiations have taken place with the GPs who had formed the co-operative last year to roll it out. Will the Minister give categorical assurances that discussions have taken place with those GPs that have formed the co-operative? Will he give an explanation of why funding was pulled from that service in Wicklow?

See this speech in context