John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The major problem with GP system as presently constituted is that for some people who do not have medical cards it is a bit expensive. We would welcome as a society any attempt to roll out free GP care, and most of the GPs I know would too. If this under-six scheme is the beginning of a roll-out, I ask the Minister of State - I am delighted to see he has a pencil in his hand - to give us the timeframes for the roll-out to under-eights, under-15s, over-70s and over-65s. When does it become a comprehensive free GP scheme? If it is part of a phased introduction of free GP services, the logic of it would seem to be that there will be further milestones along the road. Instead, it is impossible to escape the conclusion that when this was conceived it was taking with one hand what was being given with the other, which was meeting a pre-election commitment to expand GP care to a particular age group while at the same time funding the expansion by taking services away from people who needed them the most. Collectively, the two initiatives, thankfully, were caught out by the political process at the time of the local and European elections. This, as has been admitted by members of the Minister of State's party and the other party in the Coalition Government, caused a certain amount of soul-searching and has led to a change. It has had the unintended effect of making this better legislation.

I will support the Bill. If one takes away the attempt to remove medical cards from others, this as a stand-alone Bill makes more sense. We will try to pin the Minister of State down to the timeframes and scale of the roll-out and whether it will be phased or whether we are waiting for the great moment - as they used to say, after the revolution - that moment when suddenly we will have universal health care for all. Everything is on hold until then.