Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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323. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons in County Laois who have been refused access to a general practitioner service under the medical card system in view of the fact the general practitioner lists are full; his plans to deal with persons that need to be taken on by a local general practitioner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38462/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Patients who hold a medical card or GP visit card are registered with a single GP who holds a contract with the HSE to provide services to eligible patients under the General Medical Services (GMS) scheme.

Where a GMS patient experiences difficulty in finding a GP to accept him/her as a patient, the HSE has the power to assign an eligible person to a GP's GMS patient list where the person has been removed from another GP's list or refused entry onto a GP's list, and the person has unsuccessfully applied to at least three GPs in the area, who are contracted to provide services under the GMS.

In relation to the information requested specific to Co. Laois, as this is a service matter, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the HSE for direct reply to you.