Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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1050. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the introduction of free general practitioner care for children aged between six and 12 years of age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41661/21]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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1123. To ask the Minister for Health when he will consult with an organisation (details supplied) on the extension of general practitioner care without fees to children aged 7 and 8 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41802/21]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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1517. To ask the Minister for Health when free general practitioner care will be extended to those under the age of eight years. [43175/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1050, 1123 and 1517 together.

The Government is committed to increasing access to GP care without charges for children, an important healthcare measure that will remove a potentially prohibitive cost barrier to accessing GP care and will help to improve children’s health as they develop. At present all children under six years of age are eligible for a GP visit card and therefore GP care without charges.

The Health (General Practitioner Service and Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Act 2020 provides, amongst other things, for the phased expansion of GP care without fees to all children aged 12 years and under. The initial stage of this phased expansion will be the provision of GP care without fees to all children aged between 6 and 8.

The appropriate date for commencing the expansion remains under consideration in light of COVID-19 and the additional pressures the expansion might place on general practice in that context. This date will be determined following consultation with the IMO. It is important to ensure that any additional pressures placed on general practice will not limit its capacity to meet the needs of all patients in the community.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1051. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated additional cost of universal general practitioner care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41663/21]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1052. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated additional cost to introduce universal general practitioner care for each annualised income bracket starting with €0 to €14,999 and building in increments of €5,000 to €100,000 plus, in tabular form, including the population size of each bracket. [41664/21]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1053. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated additional cost of providing a general practitioner visit card for each annualised income bracket starting with €0 to €14,999 and building in increments of €5,000 to €100,000 plus, in tabular form, including the population size of each bracket. [41665/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1051 to 1053, inclusive. together.

GMS contractors receive a range of capitation rates, fee per service payments and practice supports. Extending GP care without charges to all citizens who do not currently hold a medical card or GP visit card would encompass a further 2.88 million people approximately. It is not possible to definitively calculate the cost of universal GP care without charges, as a whole or by annualised income brackets, given the wide range of payments and variables that have to be accounted for.

Such a calculation would require a complex and detailed modelling exercise to account for a range of demographic changes, future projections of service demands and variation in the number of GPs and the allowances that could be paid.

Additionally, the fees payable to GPs could only be determined following agreement with the IMO on the scope and content of the general practitioner service to be provided, as well as on the future of the various other supports provided to general practice.