Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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82. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to roll-out free general practitioner care for the entire population, given the success of the programme for children under six years of age and adults over 70 years of age; if he will confirm that he has not abandoned the roll-out of free general practitioner care to other cohorts of the population; and the estimated timeline for this programme. [13737/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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As set out in the Programme for Partnership Government, the Government is committed to the goal of universal healthcare. One of the key proposals in the Programme is the establishment of an Oireachtas Committee to develop cross-party consensus on the future of the health service. I believe the health service would benefit enormously from a single unifying vision that can help to drive reform and development of the system over the next ten years.

The Programme for Government 2011-2016 committed to the phased introduction of a universal GP service for the entire population. The first two phases of universal GP care without fees have been successfully introduced in 2015, firstly, for children under the age of 6 years and, secondly, for all people aged 70 years and over. This has resulted in approximately 800,000 people now being eligible for GP care without fees, without having to undergo a means test. The under-6s GP service includes age-based preventive checks focused on health and well-being and a cycle of care for children with asthma.

In Budget 2016, the Government made financial provision for the extension of GP care without fees to all children aged 6 to 11 years. It is expected that this third phase will bring the total number of those eligible for universal GP care, without having to be assessed by a means test, to approximately 1.2 million people. This will also be subject to on-going negotiation with the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) in relation to the scope of the service to be provided and the fee arrangements to apply. The Programme for Partnership Government also commits to extending in phases, and subject to negotiation with GPs, the introduction of universal GP care to all children under 18 years of age. The roll-out of free GP care to under-18s and other cohorts of the population will be considered in the context of the funding available and the capacity of GPs to undertake this additional work.