White Hails Government Decision on Free GP Care for Under 6s

Alex White T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Health has welcomed Government approval today of the text of the Health (General Practitioners Service) Bill 2014 and the Cabinet’s agreement that the Bill should be published and introduced to the Oireachtas.

“I welcome today’s decision by the Government which will see free GP services extended to all children aged under six by mid-2014, as the first phase in the introduction of free GP care for the full population.

“240,000 children across Ireland will benefit from this innovative public health policy. The Government has provided new, additional funding of €37 million to meet the cost of this measure.

“This is really good news for young families and it represents a significant milestone in the reform of our health services.”

The Minister has also confirmed that he is again contacting the IMO today with a new proposal for initiating talks and looks forward to hearing their response