Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 99: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the progress made in improving access to health care on the basis of need as opposed to financial means, as proposed by the Health Strategy 2001; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17703/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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In line with commitments made in the Health Strategy 2001, Quality and Fairness — 'A Health System For You', work is underway on a new legislative framework to provide for clear statutory provisions on eligibility and entitlement for health and personal social services. The aim is to produce a clear set of statutory provisions that ensure equity and transparency and to bring the system up to date with developments in service delivery and technology that have occurred since the enactment of the Health Act 1970. It is intended that the heads of a new Bill will be brought to Government during 2007.

Additional funding has also been made available in recent years to allow for additional persons to become eligible for the medical card and free access to GP visits for those on low income. During 2005 for example, significant changes were introduced making it easier for people to qualify for a medical card or GP visit card. The income guidelines and the income allowances for children taken into account for the purposes of assessment of eligibility for the medical card were increased by 7.5% from 1st January, 2005. A further increase of 20% was made to the income guidelines for medical cards and GP Visit Cards in October 2005. In June 2006, the income guideline for GP Visit Cards, a 25% differential over the new medical card income guideline, was further increased to 50% in excess of the guidelines.

As of May, 2007, the number of people with a medical card was 1,241,331 and an additional 64,690 people held a GP Visit Card. 1.31 million people have free access to a GP through the General Medical Services Scheme.

Since the publication of the Health Strategy, the number of in patient beds and day care places available for use has steadily increased by an average of 300 beds per year. There was around 1,150,000 in-patient and day case discharges from acute hospitals in 2006. Since 2001, in-patient discharges have increased by in excess of 6% and day cases by 55%. In addition, the National Treatment Fund arranged for the treatment of almost 17,000 patients in 2006 bringing the total treated by the fund since it was established in 2002 to 54,890 patients.

The Primary Care Strategy is also being implemented by the HSE, at an operational level, since 2005 and the establishment of 100 Primary Care teams is well underway. These teams will further develop capacity for the delivery of services at local level as part of a modern health system that is accompanied by specific initiatives such as GP Co-operatives, physical infrastructure and upgrading of equipment in support of the Strategy.

Finally, the policy objective behind the hospital co-location project is to free up private beds in public hospitals in order to improve access to acute services for public patients.