Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 286: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will clarify the situation whereby all people over 70 years with a medical card have to in some cases pay a general practitioner for a medical certificate to enable them to renew their driving licence; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that some GPs do not charge medical card holders for this service while other GPs charge a fee ranging from €25 to €50; if this service should be provided free to medical card holders aged 70 as this is putting an unnecessary burden on old age pensioners with medical cards; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42718/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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In making arrangements for the provision of publicly funded GP services, under the General Medical Services (GMS) Scheme, an agreement was negotiated between the Department of Health and Children and the GP representative body, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO). The provisions of this agreement took the form of the current GMS GP Capitation Contract. This contract is a treatment based contract and gives effect to the statutory requirement to provide free GP medical and surgical services to eligible people which includes people aged 70 and over who are automatically entitled to a medical card. The contract stipulates that the fees paid to GMS GPs are not made in respect of certain certificates which may be required for example "under the Social Welfare Acts or for the purposes of insurance or assurance policies or for the issue of driving licences". As these non-treatment type services are outside of the GMS GP contract it is a matter between the GP and the person seeking the particular services to agree a fee.

While certificates for driving licence applications are provided by medical practitioners they are not a medical treatment service and are not considered a core aspect of public health service provision. Requiring such services to be provided with the terms of the GMS GP contract would more than likely lead to costly counterclaim by GPs which if allowed would not represent appropriate or best use of resources in terms of current health policy.