Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Health if he has explored the option of standardising general practitioner charges across the State, for example, capping the charge at €40; and if such standardisation would have a cost to the Exchequer. [47384/12]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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Consultation fees charged by General Practitioners (GPs) to private patients, and to General Medical Services (GMS) patients outside the terms of the GMS contract, are a matter of private contract between the clinicians and the patients. While the Minister for Health has no role in relation to such fees, it is expected that clinicians would have regard to the overall economic situation in setting their fees.

The Medical Council's Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners states that the fees charged should be appropriate to the service provided and that patients should be informed of the likely costs before the consultation and treatment.

The Programme for Government provides for significant strengthening of primary care services to deliver universal primary care with the removal of cost as a barrier to access for patients. This commitment will be achieved on a phased basis within the term of this Government.

Legislation to allow the Minister for Health to make regulations to extend access to General Practitioner (GP) services without fees to persons with prescribed illnesses is currently being drafted by the Attorney General's office and will be published shortly. Implementation dates and application details will be announced in due course.