Results 101-120 of 180 for gp speaker:Micheál Martin

Order of Business (10 Feb 2015)

Micheál Martin: ...might confirm the position for me. It would be a good day's work for transparency if the advices were published. With regard to the Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill, the rolling out of free GP care to under sixes is in jeopardy as hundreds of GPs across the country are refusing to sign up to the Government's plans. The National Association of General Practitioners, which...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Programme for Government Implementation (27 Jan 2015)

Micheál Martin: ...be deployed accordingly.There is a whole page of commitments in the programme for Government with respect to primary care. In light of the promise that "Universal Primary Care will remove fees for GP care and will be introduced within this Government’s term of office", the entire population should be looking forward to the removal of fees before the Government's term of office...

Order of Business (20 Jan 2015)

Micheál Martin: ...with an integrated agency, hospital insurance fund, patient safety authority or any of a whole raft of commitments in the programme for Government in terms of universal hospital care insurance, the GP contract, and the legislative basis for universal primary care, a universal primary care Act. I respectfully suggest that in the interests of realism or honesty pages 3 to 6, inclusive, of...

Order of Business (14 Jan 2015)

Micheál Martin: ...the Taoiseach explain its purpose, given the exhaustive deliberations on the subject which occurred just before Christmas? The health (general practitioner service) Bill will introduce universal GP services to all those over 70. We know that up to 50,000, or perhaps more, medical cards were taken from people over 70 but they will now get a GP card returned to them. When can we expect...

Order of Business (14 Jan 2015)

Micheál Martin: The Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, frightened me when he said he blamed everything on Fine Gael last week. Will the Taoiseach clarify what will happen with GP care for those under six and over 70?

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Financial Resolution No. 3: General (Resumed) (15 Oct 2014)

Micheál Martin: ...this exact day last year when the then Minister for Health issued a statement saying that the Government’s generosity would mean that services would improve this year. Some 200,000 families were to get a GP visit card, mental health services were to expand and there was to be a minor and not very significant change in medical cards. We all know how that turned out. Thousands of...

Order of Business (16 Jul 2014)

Micheál Martin: ...Order of Business last week, indicated that the Government would provide general practitioner visit cards to everybody aged over 70 years. Approximately 50,000 people aged over 70 do not have a GP visit card or medical card. I understand legislation will be required to provide this group with GP visit cards. When can we expect the relevant legislation? Will it provide for those aged...

Leaders' Questions (16 Jul 2014)

Micheál Martin: No, that is what the Government is doing. It is giving GP-visit cards left, right and centre now. We are talking about €1 million here.

Nomination of Members of the Government: Motion (11 Jul 2014)

Micheál Martin: ...major improvements in services and doing so within budget has been undermined by a Government that will not even acknowledge the cutbacks it is imposing. The announcement on Wednesday of introducing free GP cards for the over-70s, while, at the same time, removing full medical cards from the same age group just because they were slightly above the new income criteria that the Government...

Order of Business (24 Jun 2014)

Micheál Martin: ...promised legislation? On the issue of universal primary care, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Alex White, said the legislation currently in the House relating to free GP care for children under six years of age had been pushed back until autumn. This is yet another delay. The Taoiseach must examine the entire page of commitments made on primary care in the...

Order of Business (30 Apr 2014)

Micheál Martin: ...time that is being provided for a debate on the legislation governing general practitioners. I have put it to him previously that there is a genuine crisis in general practice across the country. GPs are meeting in huge numbers across the country. We are all receiving communications from them. Just two days ago, I received a communication from a GP who is emigrating because he or she...

Order of Business (16 Apr 2014)

Micheál Martin: ...This is a very relevant question in view of all the memos that are being circulated at random by Ministers. The programme for Government gives an undertaking that during this Government's term, GP training places will be increased, GPs will be encouraged to defer retirement, doctors will be recruited from abroad and the number of practice nurses will be increased. Does the Taoiseach...

Order of Business (9 Apr 2014)

Micheál Martin: ...be a welcome development if the various perspectives of the ministries could be put into the open to facilitate that debate. In terms of the Government's legislative commitment to the introduction of free GP care for the under sixes, I am sure the Minister will be aware that GPs are up in arms, metaphorically speaking. They are very angry at the way they are being treated and undermined....

Order of Business (2 Apr 2014)

Micheál Martin: ...Can the Taoiseach tell us when the health (general practitioner medical service) Bill will be published? The Bill is necessary if the Government is to follow through on its commitment regarding GP care for those under the age of five. Will that legislation cover those who continue to have their medical cards taken from them in a random fashion? The elimination of discretionary medical...

Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (12 Mar 2014)

Micheál Martin: ...with people we are simultaneously proposing to sanction. The Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Alex White, has a busy portfolio. Given the significant challenges facing his free GP care and compulsory health insurance proposals, it would be understood if he were to remain in Dublin. I ask the Taoiseach to consider that approach to the engagement on St. Patrick's Day...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Political Reform (11 Mar 2014)

Micheál Martin: ...Freedom of Information Act and whistleblowing in general. Why has the Government issued a contract to general practitioners gagging them and preventing them from advocating on health matters? The contract for free GP care for children under six prevents GPs from making any statement critical of the HSE. That is anti-democratic and runs counter to any idea of a democratic revolution....

Order of Business (5 Mar 2014)

Micheál Martin: When will we have an opportunity to debate the Health (General Practitioner Medical Service) Bill, to allow free GP service for those under six years of age, even though it will be at the cost of discretionary medical cards for children over six? In the contract issued to GPs there is a gagging order, which will prevent them from advocacy, speaking out and articulating their views about the...

Government's Priorities for the Year Ahead: Statements (4 Mar 2014)

Micheál Martin: ...a patient. It has reduced nursing and medical cover for each patient on wards and ramped up the programme of shutting services which the Taoiseach personally promised to keep open. The introduction of free GP care for children under the age of six years is a stated priority for this year, but the implementation and cost of this promise are becoming less clear by the day. Assuming that...

Order of Business (18 Feb 2014)

Micheál Martin: ...health (general practitioner medical service) Bill, there is much confusion abroad regarding the position of the Minister of State, Deputy White, which appears to suggest there will not be completely free GP care for all, which was a key promise and plank of the programme for Government. He suggested that nothing is free and that fees for the free service were being considered. I ask the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Programme for Government Implementation (21 Jan 2014)

Micheál Martin: ...that have been closed as a result of decisions taken by the Government. I will provide the details on the cases I raised earlier with regard to medical cards. I refer to medical cards and not GP-only cards. That is the new game in town. A medical card for people with disabilities is far more comprehensive than anything a GP card could ever give. The Government must be aware of that...