Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

While I accept that the Minister is speaking in good faith, I have read all the correspondence from his Department to the NAGP and none of it gives any dates whatsoever. I will refer to the timeline. On 13 March 2018, the NAGP wrote to the Minister seeking a meeting on the referendum on the eighth amendment. It was concerned about talks about a GP-led service when GPs were not being consulted on that. There was no response from Government to that letter. On 23 April 2018, the association wrote to an assistant secretary in the Department seeking a meeting to discuss the various issues raised. There was no response from Government to that letter. On 21 May 2018, the association wrote again to the assistant secretary, copying the Taoiseach and the Minister. In the letter, the NAGP expressed disappointment at the lack of a response from Government to the issues raised. The association again requested a timeline for engagement on FEMPI and the new contract citing the fact that the IMO had started negotiations and quoting the Minister's own commitment. It received no response from Government. On 31 May 2018, the NAGP wrote again to the assistant secretary, included the previous letters and cited the lack of response. The association raised four issues: FEMPI, the new GP contract, CervicalCheck - it was concerned that it was not getting the information it needed - and the implementation of the referendum outcome. As of 24 June 2018, it received no response to that.

It has received one letter from the Government stating that at some point in the future, the Government will engage with the association. Does the Minister believe that is an adequate response from the Government to date given that the Minister has given a commitment to engage with the association, which represents over 2,000 GPs?

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