James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In respect of Senator Robbie Gallagher's comments, I am a practicing GP and I talk to other GPs. I know that what really makes them cross is the FEMPI legislation. I put my hand up because I was responsible for the introduction of some of those cuts during our financial emergency. However, the Senator's party was responsible for two thirds of the cuts. This has caused general practitioners tremendous problems in attracting new people into the profession and is also inhibiting those in it from staying on. We will see 600 GPs retire over the next couple of years. At the same time, our young doctors go abroad. The FEMPI legislation must be addressed urgently. I have raised that time and again.

I know that the Taoiseach understands general practice. He is trained as a GP, his father was a GP and he grew up in a household of general practice and family medicine. He is committed to the health sector and to taking the wonderful opportunity that has presented itself to us to start negotiations to introduce a new contract which will focus more on prevention and early detection than on episodic illness. If we want an example of that approach we should look at the excellent work carried out by Dr. Velma Harkins and many of her colleagues in the midlands. They reduced the rate of complications relating to diabetes by 80% over the period of several years for which their scheme ran at a fraction of what would be the cost to hospitals. Not alone is it more cost-effective, it results in better outcomes for patients and operates in a setting which is in their community and which is more convenient to them. General practice delivers more than 100,000 consultations every single day. A 1% shift from general practice creates serious problems for the hospital system. A 4% shift and it would all be over.

I will conclude by asking the Leader to call on the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to come to the House and introduce the legislation on the new regulator to be appointed for noise at Dublin Airport in the Fingal County Council area as quickly as possible. We need the legislation to allow for the appointment and we need a funding mechanism to be put in place to allow specialist individuals to be employed to take charge of such work in order to give confidence to the public and to industry alike.