Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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367. To ask the Minister for Health the cost of expanding free GP care for children and young people up to 18 years. [43774/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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GP visit card eligibility was expanded last year under the GP Agreement 2023 to all those earning up to the median household income and to all children under the 8 years of age. All persons aged 70 years and over are also eligible for a GP visit card. Following these expansions, over half the population is eligible for GP care without charges under the GMS scheme.

Extending GP visit card eligibility to all children aged 8 to 17 years inclusive would grant eligibility to approximately 460,000 additional children (based on current existing card holder numbers and 2024 CSO population estimates). Based on the average GMS GP cost per card holder prior to last year's expansion of GP visit card eligibility, adjusted for the increase to capitation rates under the GP Agreement 2023, the additional cost of extending GP care without charges at current capitation rates to all children aged 8 to 17 years is estimated at approximately €70 million per annum. This is based on full GP visit card uptake.

However, the provision of GP care without charges to all children aged 8 to 17 years inclusive would require the negotiation of new contractual terms with the IMO, and it is likely that this would give rise to additional costs beyond this figure which cannot be estimated.

Furthermore, as the estimation is based on the average GMS GP cost per card holder, it does not take into consideration possible savings from practices that may reach the maximum payable rates from GMS supports that are calculated by panel size. The estimation also does not account for the costs that may arise from the additional practice supports provided under the GP Agreement 2023. In addition, the estimation is only made in relation to GP costs and does not include additional costs that would be borne by the HSE in order to administer the expansion and the increased level of eligibility.