Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Cathaoirleach, both as a colleague from the legal profession and as a person from Cork, and wish him every success in his new role as Cathaoirleach. I compliment him also on his role as Leas-Chathaoirleach in the last Seanad. He was always fair to everybody in every debate. I congratulate also another colleague from Cork, Senator Jerry Buttimer, and wish him well in his new role as Leader of the House. I look forward to working with both of them.

I wish to raise an issue with regard to health care.There is a perception that hospitals are not providing the services we require, but it is interesting to consider the figures that were published recently. In 2015, there were 3.5 million outpatient attendances, which is 60,000 per week or 12,000 per day. That includes services such as day case procedures and outpatient departments. It shows the dedication and commitment of the nurses, staff and all the people who are working in the HSE. I compliment them on the valuable service they provide. The figures of 12,000 people per day and 60,000 per week attending as outpatients are sometimes not mentioned. My colleague in Sinn Féin raised the issue of bed closures. The health service has moved from a situation where many procedures required admission to hospital to one where many of them are now day procedures.

There is also the issue of general practitioners. Many GPs seek to deal with certain areas of health care which were traditionally referred to a hospital. It is extremely important that the contract negotiations between GPs and the Department of Health are progressed and concluded. There is no point in returning, three or four years hence, to negotiations that should have been concluded. It is time for the Department to move on this matter. It is also time for it to include all the representative bodies for GPs in those negotiations, which means not only the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO, but also the National Association of General Practitioners, NAGP. These negotiations are important so I ask the Leader to invite the Minister to the House to outline what progress has been made on the matter over the past 12 months and whether there is a timeline for making progress to bring it to a conclusion. GPs can then provide additional services and be adequately remunerated for them. It will also encourage more people to come home to this country to work in the service. The more GPs working in the service, the fewer referrals there will be to hospitals. That is extremely important for trying to progress and provide a comprehensive health service. Will the Leader deal with this and ask the Minister to outline his current position on it?