Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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334. To ask the Minister for Health when the free general practitioner care for children under seven years of age announced as part of Budget 2022 will be implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4012/22]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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366. To ask the Minister for Health when he plans to introduce free general practitioner visit cards for children under seven years of age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4155/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 334 and 366 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 up to and including the age of 5 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 in three phases: to children aged 6 and 7; to children aged 8 and 9; and to children aged 10,11 and 12. Budget 2022 provides for the initial stage of this phased expansion, the provision of GP care without fees to all children aged 6 and 7 and my Department has commenced work to roll the service out this year.

The specific 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 and will require consultation with the IMO, representing General Practitioners. 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.