Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

659. To ask the Minister for Health when the extended free general practitioner care for children will come into effect. [48357/22]

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

My officials and the HSE have made preparations for the expansion of GP care without charges to all children aged 6 & 7 and consultations with the IMO, representing GPs, are ongoing with the intention of introducing the service this year.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

660. To ask the Minister for Health the engagement that he or his Department have had with general practitioners and organisations representing general practitioners; and the additional resources that will be provided to general practitioners in order for them to meet the needs of those that are now eligible for the extended free contraception scheme. [48358/22]

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In accordance with the Programme for Governmentand Women’s Health Action Plancommitments to providing free contraception for women, starting with the 17-25 age cohort, the free contraception scheme for women aged 17-25 was launched on Wednesday 14^thSeptember.

Funding of approximately €9m has been allocated for the scheme in Budget 2022.

The scheme is now open to all 17-25 year-old women ordinarily resident in Ireland and provides for:

- The cost of prescription contraception;

- The cost of necessary consultations with medical professionals to discuss suitable contraception for individual patients and to enable prescription of same;

- The cost of fitting and/or removal of various types of long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs) plus any necessary checks, by medical professionals certified to fit/remove same;

- The cost of training and certifying additional medical professionals to fit and remove LARCs;

- The cost of providing the wide range of contraceptive options currently available to GMS (medical) card holders, which are also available through this scheme, including contraceptive injections, implants, IUS and IUDs (coils), the contraceptive patch and ring, and various forms of oral contraceptive pill, including emergency contraception.

The legal framework for the scheme is provided by the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Act, 2022, which was enacted in July and commenced in September, 2022.

Citizen engagement information and publicity campaigns to support and promote the roll out of the scheme were launched by the Department’s Press and Communications Team, the HSE’s Communications team and relevant subject matter experts in the Department and HSE Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme.

Digital information regarding the scheme, how to access it and wider information on contraceptive options is available through www.sexualwellbeing.ie; printed contraceptive choices materials will be placed in GP surgeries from later in September.

As part of the preparations for service provision under the scheme, consultations with the Irish Medical Organisation and the Irish Pharmacy Union were held. My Department also engaged with the Irish College of General Practitioners and HSE regarding the scheme, with specific discussions taking place regarding its provisions for additional training for LARC fitting and removal .

The HSE Primary Care Re-imbursement Service (PCRS) provides ongoing support and engagement to service providers under the scheme, including general practitioners.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

661. To ask the Minister for Health the engagement that he has had with general practitioners and organisations representing general practitioners; and the additional resources that will be provided to general practitioners in order for them to meet the needs of those now eligible for the extended free general practitioner care for children given that many in rural communities are struggling currently to get a general practitioner or to obtain an appointment. [48359/22]

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

My Department and the HSE have had frequent engagement with the IMO in recent years. Budget 2023 reiterated the commitment made last year to expand GP care without charges to all children aged 6 & 7, and provides for the expansion of GP care without charges to people who earn the median household income of approximately €46,000 or less. It is envisaged that these measures will be supported by a significant package of additional capacity supports to GP practices; consultations are to be held with the IMO on how to best to implement these capacity supports.

The Government is aware of the workforce issues currently facing general practice, and while GPs are self-employed practitioners and therefore may establish practices at a place of their own choosing, the Government recognises there is a need to support rural GP practices and to make establishing a rural practice a more attractive prospect. The proposed package of capacity supports announced in Budget 2023 builds on steps already taken by the Government to increase the number of GPs working throughout the country.

Under the 2019 GP Agreement the additional annual expenditure provided for general practice will have increased by €211.6m per annum by 2023. This provides for significant increases in capitation fees for participating GMS GPs, and new fees and subsidies for additional services. Improvements to GP’s maternity and paternity leave arrangements, increased rural practice supports and a support for GPs in disadvantaged urban areas, have also been provided for.

The number of GPs entering training has increased steadily over the past number of years, rising from 120 in 2009 to 258 in 2022. The transfer of GP training from the HSE to the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) which was concluded in 2021 will allow for the introduction of a new service model for GP training in Ireland and the further expansion GP training capacity in the years ahead. The ICGP aims to have 350 training places available for new entrants per year by 2026.

Furthermore, preparatory work has commenced on a strategic review of GP services to examine how best to ensure the provision of GP services in Ireland for the future. The review will examine the broad range of issues affecting general practice in general and in rural areas specifically, and will set out the measures necessary to deliver a sustainable general practice.