Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1916.To ask the Minister for Health if he has plans to extend the age range of children eligible for free GP services; if so, when the next age tranche might become eligible; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[35844/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Health (General Practitioner Service and Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Act 2020 provides a legal basis for the extension of GP visit card eligibility for those up to the age of 12 years inclusive in three phases; 6 and 7; 8 and 9, and 10 to 12 years of age.

The GP Agreement 2023 extended GP visit card eligibility from all children under 6 years to all children under 8 years of age from August last year. The Agreement also extended GP visit card eligibility to those who earn up to the median household income fully from November last year. These expansions were estimated to provide eligibility to approximately an additional 500,000 people, including a significant number of children aged from 8 to 17 years.

The GP Agreement 2023 includes a commitment that no further eligibility extensions will be introduced by the current Government, other than by agreement with the IMO and in the context of a new agreed contractual framework, or other than specific expansions that may be considered necessary for the delivery of health care to certain small groups of persons.