Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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1. To ask the Minister for Defence if he will reconsider his decision to close the Curragh Families Clinic; his views on whether the proposal to close it is contrary to the terms of the Haddington Road Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46964/13]

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Minister for Defence if he will overturn the decision to close the families clinic in the Curragh Camp at the end of 2013.. [46846/13]

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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I do not know about the 30 second rule as it does not allow us to do very much. Some weeks ago it was announced that the Department of Defence was to close the Curragh families clinic, which supplies primary care facilities for 480 families. The decision has caused shock in the community and will cause enormous hardship for the 480 families affected. It is a serious breach of the terms of the Haddington Road agreement.

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.

I have no plans to change the decision to discontinue the services provided at the Curragh families clinic. The clinic provides free GP and pharmacy services for the families of enlisted military personnel resident within the Curragh Camp and surrounding areas. The service dates back to a time when the provision of medical services for all families of enlisted personnel was included in Defence Forces regulations. Following the introduction of free public hospital care for all citizens in the 1970s, the entitlement to medical services for military families was formally removed from regulations in 1987. Accordingly, the family section of the Curragh Military Hospital closed at that time. However, the Curragh families clinic was retained because of the difficulty in obtaining doctor and pharmacy services in the Curragh area at the time. This is no longer the case.

The service is an anomaly in that it is a benefit which is only available to a relatively small number of families resident within the Curragh Camp and surrounding areas. Similar services are not provided for the families of enlisted military personnel at any other location in the State. A further anomaly arises in that new personnel deployed to the Curragh Camp in recent times do not receive the benefit of free family care.

Several reviews undertaken since 1990 have recommended that the clinic be closed. The decision to discontinue the operation of the clinic has been made having regard to these reviews, equity considerations and the cost of the service. The families affected will have the same rights of access to public health services as other families of enlisted personnel. Also, existing services are being maintained until 31 December 2013 to allow families to make arrangements to transfer to local general practitioners, GPs, and apply for medical cards or GP visit cards, if required. If any patient requires assistance in finding a new GP or applying for a medical or GP visit card, this can be provided by staff in the clinic during the transition period.

As the Curragh families clinic is a facility that is neither provided for members of the Defence Forces nor encompassed by the conciliation and arbitration schemes for the Defence Forces, its closure is not an issue that comes within the scope of the Haddington Road agreement. The Deputy is incorrect in that allegation.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Viewed as a desktop exercise, what the Minister said is probably correct. However, his response shows an ignorance of what is, in fact, the community dynamic at the Curragh Camp where primary care facilities have been available since prior to the foundation of the State. The British army was able to provide services for the communities on the Curragh. The Minister is correct that previous reports suggested the facilities should have been withdrawn. However, his predecessors had the wisdom and knowledge of the circumstances to refuse to take that initiative. If the Minister proceeds to close this facility, he will further impoverish those families who live on the Curragh. He will force them out into a primary care sector in the greater Kildare area where the numbers involved cannot be accommodated. The families affected have already surveyed GP services available in the wider community and know that no existing service has the capacity to take on the 480 families in question, or over 1,000 people.

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I am afraid the Deputy is mistaken in much of what he is saying. I have full knowledge of the position on the Curragh and the families there. This matter was given careful consideration. It is particularly anomalous that some families of military personnel based in the Curragh can avail of this service, while others there cannot. It is an additional anomaly that no such service is available to other military personnel in other parts of the country. Before making these decisions, the issue of the capacity of GPs in the surrounding areas to take on and provide appropriate medical care for the families in question was carefully examined.

There are 13 GPs working in eight clinics in Newbridge and five GPs working in two clinics in Kildare town listed on the HSE website. All the clinics were contacted to see what, if any, spare capacity they had to take on additional private or medical card patients, and five responded, indicating that there is ample GP capacity in Newbridge and Kildare town to cater to the clients of the Curragh families clinic. Arrangements will be put in place when families transfer to ensure medical records are made available to the GPs who will provide the service.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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On the face of it, the Minister's argument that he cannot provide services to one set of families and not others is fair. However, the families insist they were not consulted and were first made aware of this very significant change by letter. They also referred to the wider issue of the changes in the camp, which, many years ago, was a very different place. They use words such as "depressing", they feel isolated and they feel people are being pushed away from the camp. In the context of that view of the families, to whom this State owes a debt, can the Minister outline the consultation with them and whether they are wrong in what they say?

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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There is no reason any family or individual should feel isolated. They were provided with all the relevant information to assist those families who are entitled to free medical care, be it through a full medical card or a GP card, to make the necessary applications. They have been offered any assistance they require in completing applications. It is important that we put this in context. The military authorities advise me that there are 289 enlisted personnel whose families are not entitled to attend the Curragh families clinic. I note what Deputy Ó Fearghaíl had to say about my predecessors; however, no new families have been accepted into the clinic since 2008, so a decision was made by a predecessor of the Deputy's party to stop families using the clinic. The fact that my predecessor did not deal with each family equally has given rise to this issue.

A full analysis of the service provided at the Curragh families clinic was undertaken before the decision to discontinue the service. The analysis concluded that the service provided by the Curragh families clinic is an anomaly in that it is a benefit that is available to only a relatively small number of families of enlisted personnel resident in the Curragh camp and surrounding areas in circumstances in which no such service is available to any other enlisted personnel and in which it is not available to any personnel attached to the Curragh camp since 2008. It is entirely unfair to maintain a service that can be properly provided by local GPs.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister's predecessors made decisions about the orderly wind-down of this service. A survey by local people of the GP services, many of which I know, indicate that they cannot accommodate the number of people involved, which is more than 1,000. The Minister's decision is wrong. A duty of care rests with the GP who provides the service in the Curragh and the Defence Forces. The Minister's plan to wind down the service within three months does not have proper regard to that duty of care because a primary care service of this type cannot be wound down in three months. Neither can the medical cards he mentioned be provided to people with certainty should they require them. Nor can alternative GP services be secured within the timeframe.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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I defer to my colleague's local knowledge of the realities on the ground. The Minister did not answer my very simple question on what consultation was undertaken with the families who are already, as we can see, very concerned about the changed circumstances in the camp. Why was it not put to them that the Department had done a survey of local GPs and clinics in nearby towns and found that there was plenty of availability? Did those conversations take place? Was it argued that the service could not be sustained while it was not available to others? Was the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association, PDFORRA, involved in these discussions or deliberations? It is important. I appreciate that the Minister must take decisions and will always find a rationale for those decisions, but what about the consultation with the very people we need to engage with?

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The families are well aware of the circumstances surrounding the decision that has been made and the anomalous nature of the service. Deputy Ó Fearghaíl acknowledges that around 2008 the former Minister for Defence Deputy O'Dea made a decision that further families who locate in the Curragh cannot avail of these services. As the Deputy so eloquently put it, he made a decision for the orderly winding down. At what stage does an orderly winding down require that one make a decision to wind up the service?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister is unilaterally withdrawing it.

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The stage has come when we have so many personnel based in the Curragh, as I detailed, and their families who cannot avail of this service. Having checked the position carefully, I consider it clear that local GPs have the capacity to take on the families. If any family has a difficulty being taken on by a local GP I can ask the military or officials from my Department to provide the assistance necessary to identify an appropriate GP who has availability. All of the information I have indicates that there is more than adequate availability among qualified GPs who are not only providing medical care to the local community but to the families of all the other personnel located in the Curragh who are excluded from this scheme. I assume the Deputy is not impugning the medical care provided by the local GPs to the families excluded from availing of this scheme.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister presumes correctly. Nor did I suggest it.