Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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363. To ask the Minister for Health his Department's estimate of the number of persons under six years of age who will be entitled to free general practitioner care in 2018 to 2021 respectively; and the estimated full-year cost in 2018 terms of providing such coverage. [53222/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The introduction of GP care without fees to children under 6 years of age in July 2015 was 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, almost 363,000 children have access to GP care without fees through a medical card or GP visit card. This represents approximately 92% of children under 6 years.

Population projections produced by the ESRI for the 0-5 age cohort as part of their work on the recently published “Projections of Demand for Healthcare in Ireland, 2015-2030:First Report from the Hippocrates Mode, (available at ), are set out in the following table:

ERSI Population Projections for Health Demand: 0-5 Age Cohort

Source: Projections of demand for healthcare in Ireland, 2015-2030: First report (Estimates based on ESRI “Central” scenario, which considers a continued improvement in mortalityratesthatslowlyconvergetoastandardrateofimprovement,unchanged fertility rates (from 2015) and a moderate migration projection)

The HSE Primary Care Reimbursement Service estimates that the annual cost of a GP Visit Card for a child under 6 years is €240 and the cost of a Medical Card for a child under 6 years is €340.