Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 342: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the estimated cost of creating a national network of primary care teams to ensure that every community has access to 24 hour general practitioner cover. [12826/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Primary Care Strategy aims to develop services in the community to give people direct access to integrated multidisciplinary teams of general practitioners, nurses, home helps, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and others.

The Health Service Executive received an additional €10m in funding in 2006 to enable the establishment of up to 100 Primary Care Teams. A further €22m is being provided in 2007 to meet the full year costs of the Teams initiated in 2006 and to enable a further 100 Primary Care Teams to be established. The Government has committed under the Towards 2016 agreement to the establishment of 300 Primary Care Teams by 2008; 400 by 2009; and 500 by 2011. A review of these targets will be undertaken in 2008.

GP out of hours co-operatives allow general practitioners to put in place arrangements to provide services to their patients, while their surgeries are closed in the evenings, on weekends and bank holidays. The development of GP co-operatives is in line with the overall health service policy of strengthening primary care services and ensuring that to the greatest extent possible, people's care needs are met in the primary care setting.

Out of hours co-operatives are now in place in all Health Service Executive (HSE) areas, providing coverage in all or in part of all counties. Between 2000 and 2006 approximately €139 million was allocated to the HSE for out of hours GP co-operatives. In 2007, the HSE Vote includes almost €34 million in baseline funding for these services and a further €3 million to meet the full year cost of co-op developments commenced in 2006. These figures do not include the fees of the participating doctors.

As the development of further out-of-hours general practitioner services is a matter for the Health Service Executive in the first instance, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to consider the matter of the estimated cost of ensuring that every community has access to such a service and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.