Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 146: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will clarify the situation regarding entitlement of new general practitioners practices to see clients who have GP visit cards. [26959/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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Under the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has the responsibility to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. This includes responsibility for arranging for the provision of general practitioner services to persons covered by the General Medical Services (GMS) Scheme and persons who qualify for a GP visit card. The award of contracts for these services is normally through open competition and interview, following advertisements in national and medical newspapers. All suitably qualified medical practitioners may apply for these contracts.

Under the terms of further agreements reached in the context of the extension of medical card coverage to all persons aged 70 and over, and the introduction of the GP visit card, arrangements were made permitting GPs who at that time did not hold a GMS contract to obtain a contract in respect of providing a service to such patients, with an option to become eligible for a full GMS contract in due course.

At present the HSE is required, under the terms of the agreement negotiated with the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), when deciding to fill a vacant GP patient panel or to create a new patient panel, to take account of the potential viability of such a panel under a range of headings.

I regard the existing arrangements in this regard as unnecessarily restrictive and it is my wish, therefore, that new contractual arrangements, which are to be developed for the provision of publicly funded general practitioner services, should ensure that HSE contracts for GP services are open to all suitably qualified and equipped providers.