Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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193. To ask the Minister for Health in view of the precedent set by the agreement between the Irish Medical Organisation and the Competition Authority the procedures, if any, that have been put in place for engagement with the National Association of General Practitioners by his Department; the rationale behind the procedures or lack thereof; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27607/14]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The Government is committed to introducing, on a phased basis, a universal GP service by 2016, as set out in the Programme for Government and the Future Health strategy framework. As announced in the Budget, it has been decided to commence the roll-out of a universal GP service by providing all children under 6 years with access to a GP service without fees. This will mean that almost half of the population will have access to GP services without fees.

In line with this policy, the Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill was published on 23 April 2014 and is currently progressing through the Oireachtas. The Bill was debated and approved at Committee Stage on 19 June 2014 and it is intended that the legislation will be passed by the Oireachtas before the summer break. This will provide for a GP service to be made available without fees to all children aged five years and younger.

As you are aware, the Department of Health and the HSE prepared a draft GP contract earlier this year to facilitate the introduction of this service. As part of the consultation process on the draft contract, I met with the National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP), the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) on January 31, 2014. At these meetings, the concerns of the organisations were acknowledged and they were invited to revert with any and all issues they may wish to raise on the draft contract.

Following the meeting with the NAGP on the 31 January, the NAGP did not make a submission to the HSE. They did, however, write to me on 20 February last in relation to the draft contract, stating "Accordingly, the NAGP does not propose to waste any further time considering this document and respectfully suggests that a full re-write is undertaken with the proper and meaningful negotiations with all key stakeholders. Then, and only then, are we prepared to give your proposals further consideration".

Following the meetings on 31 January last, the IMO provided a written submission to the HSE on the draft under 6 contract and subsequently entered into talks with the Department of Health and the HSE. On 4 June 2014, a Framework Agreement with the IMO was signed. This sets out a process for engagement concerning the GMS/GP contract and other publicly funded contracts involving General Practitioners (GPs), starting with the provision of GP care free at the point of access for children under 6 years. This will enable collaboration on the full implementation of a universal GP service and will allow progress on a new GMS GP contract. The HSE, Department and IMO met yesterday to commence discussions on a new GP contract for children under 6 years in accordance with the terms of the Framework Agreement and are using the draft under 6 contract as published on the HSE website on 31 January as the basis for these discussions.