Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join colleagues in conveying condolences to the families who have lost a son or daughter. I also express my condolences to those who have suffered serious injury and to their parents and families. I thank the Department of Foreign Affairs for being so proactive in helping the families. It is extremely important that families get every possible support at this time.

I join Senator Bacik in thanking the GPs who have signed up to the contract for free GP care for children under six. It is a very important first step in a programme to introduce free GP care. The next step will be free care for those aged six to 12, and after that for those aged 12 to 18. It is important in welcoming the decision of so many GPs to sign on to understand that we need to give them further support. Over the last number of years, they have suffered substantial cutbacks in support from the health service. It is one of the important areas in which we need to help and encourage people. In particular, we must help to keep people out of accident and emergency departments. The only way to do that is to help develop the services GPs can offer in their surgeries. That can only happen where the necessary support is provided by the HSE and the Department of Health. This is only a first step in the right direction. I thank the Irish Medical Organisation for coming on board to make that agreement and to ensure that more than 60% of GPs have now signed up. While there are a number of outstanding issues in some areas, particularly in rural areas, we can hopefully get over them in the next few weeks. I thank the GPs for coming on board. It is an important service that we are providing, especially to young families, and it requires the full support of all of us here.