Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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97. To ask the Minister for Health if he will report on the general practitioner service availability for parents of children under five years of age and address problems they have accessing this service. [12058/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The introduction of GP care without fees to children under 6 years of age represents a major step forward in improving access, quality and affordability of health care in Ireland. The under 6s GP service contract, which includes age-based preventive checks focused on health and well-being and a cycle of care for children with asthma, underlines the Government’s commitment to enhancing primary care and keeping people well in their own community. To date, approximately 94% of GMS GPs have entered into agreements with the HSE for the provision of services to children under 6 and almost 364,000 children under 6 have access to GP care without fees through a medical card or GP visit card.

Nationally the HSE has recently written to those GMS GPs who have not yet signed up to the under 6 contract, and provided them with a copy of the contract and the Form of Agreement for their consideration. I would hope that those GPs who have not yet signed up to offer this improved and expanded primary care service will do so and so ensure that all children aged under 6 are easily able to access general practitioner services without their parent or guardian having to pay a fee. Where a GMS patient experiences difficulty in finding a GP to accept him/her as a patient, and has unsuccessfully applied to at least three GPs in the area who are contracted to provide services under the GMS, then the HSE will assign that person to a GP's GMS patient list.