Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. We have had an Adjournment debate on this issue. Like others, I have attended a meeting in Galway of approximately 250 GPs where I learned that it is the one part of the health service that is working well. Some 98% of GPs reported that their patients did not need to go to hospital and that they were able to deal with them and that they were being resourced by a very small proportion of the health budget. The figure escapes me but I think it is less than 5%. Perhaps the Minister of State would clarify that. This is a patient-doctor relationship that is working well. I would not like to do anything to dismantle that service. Given that 98% of GPs are not willing to work with the Minister on free GP care-----