Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, it will. The Deputy will be aware that we are kicking off a strategic review of GP practice. It is based on a report that was published not long ago on the future of general practice. We accept that report. A team is being put in place now and I have appointed three GPs to the team to ensure that the voice of the doctor is very much front and centre on that.

Essentially, the process is that we have 500,000 cards to bring in this year. That comprises approximately 70,000 cards to cover six- and seven-year-olds and approximately 430,000 cards to take eligibility up to the median income. At that point we will have added significant eligibility, so we will probably need to pause for a bit.

The conversations we are having with the IMO relate to bringing in the 500,000 cards this year and the strategic review with the IMO, GPs and the experts. Coming out of that there will be recommendations for a new GP contract so there will be a negotiation of the GMS scheme. As part of that discussion I want to see exactly what the Deputy outlined. We want to move. It was called for in Sláintecare. It is backed by everybody, I think, in the House. We will then find a pathway critically and sustainably, while we add capacity to the system, for universal access so that every man, woman and child in this country ultimately will have State-funded access to general practice.

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