Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister on his appointment and wish him well in his new role. This is the first Bill he has brought to this House, and what a Bill it is. It is welcome to see this Bill before the Seanad and the Labour Party and I will be supporting it. We will be doing so because the Labour Party has a long-standing commitment to free and accessible healthcare. We will be supporting it because we believe, as a party, that healthcare is a human right and should not only be expanded to those under the age of eight, 12 or 18, but to the whole population. We have seen the benefit of universal access to free GP care for those experiencing symptoms at the height of the Covid-19 crisis. We now know, more than ever, that free GP care is a crucial cornerstone of our health system. Money should be no barrier to seeing a doctor and nowhere is that more true than in the case of our children. Parents, regardless of income, should never be faced with a choice of whether to postpone or defer a trip to the doctor for want of cash in hand.

It is worth looking to the British National Health Service and its architect, Nye Bevan. When he founded the health service, he said that no society should call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid for lack of means. I am sure that all of us in this Chamber would agree with that.

It is important to say that this Bill is welcome but must be the first step in rolling out universal access to primary care across this country. The reality is that this country stands shamefully apart from almost every other country within the developed world in rationing access to primary healthcare. We have a fully public system and universal access to our hospital or acute system of care. It does not feel like that at times because of the length of the waiting lists but there is universal access to hospital care. However, we have a semi-private system of access to primary care in this country. Over recent months, we have been listening to the pronouncements of the World Health Organization and its recommendations with regard to the pandemic. It is important to state that one of the WHO's key recommendations to health systems across the world is that there should be equity of access to all parts of health services. We do not have that. Ireland is the only country in the European Union that does not offer free primary care at the point of access for all persons, regardless of age.

I welcome this long overdue Bill. It is important to say that this journey began not in the lifetime of the current Government, as has been said, nor in the lifetime of the previous Government, but in that of the Government before that. At that time, the former Minister of State and my party colleague, Kathleen Lynch, secured access to free GP care for children under the age of six. It is also important to note and remind Senators that the move was not universally popular.Members from parties within this Chamber opposed that move. They said it was unnecessary, that it was not the right use of scarce resources and that it would be too expensive. However, the then Minister of State, Kathleen Lynch, persevered and every family across the country would now say that opening up free access to GP care to under-sixes was an important and good initiative.

My concern with this Bill is the timing of the implementation and the three phases of the extension of free GP care to children aged eight, ten and then 12 years. The Minister said that there was good reason for the phased implementation and that it would overwhelm the health system if we were to introduce it in one go. I judge a policy based on the evidence that is available and I ask the Minister to publish the evidence, which may or may not be available, of how the public health system would be overwhelmed if the Government were to implement this in one go. It did not seem GPs were overwhelmed in 2015. In fact, when I talk to GPs now, they tell me that most of the pressure comes when children are about to turn six because parents turn up about a month before that birthday and ask the GPs to look at them while they are still able to access the free GP care. That is when the point of pressure occurs, not when the care becomes available. We need to see that evidence because there is no point just saying that this is going to overwhelm the public health system when I and many others believe that it will not.

I appeal to those of us across the Chamber who have had the benefit of free GP care. I have three small children who have benefitted from it and there are a number of other young parents in this Chamber who have similarly benefitted. I appeal to them to ask the Minister to roll this out immediately and to take up Senator Conway's point about immediate implementation. The Minister has seen, albeit from the Opposition, what can be done in the Department of Health when there is willingness, particularly in the context of the changes that have taken place in recent months. We were told such changes were too big to happen, that they needed time and careful consideration but they were made happen. I ask the Minister to give urgent consideration to rolling out the implementation of free GP care to children under 12 years immediately. He should also do the same for people over 70 because we are facing into a winter of huge uncertainty and we do not need to be adding to the concerns of those over 70 who are currently relying on the free GP visit card, who are worried about being able to pay for prescriptions or accessing nursing homes. If the Minister were to act now and extend the thresholds, they would benefit from the medical card this winter.