Speaking after news emerged that the promised provision of free GP care to people on the long-term illness scheme may be delayed by at least a year, Dublin South West TD Seán Crowe  said that it was becoming increasingly more like a pipedream under this Government than an actual Health Policy that will be delivered to patients

Deputy Seán Crowe said

“The extension of free GP care to all, beginning with people on the long-term illness scheme, was supposed to be a corner-stone of the Fine Gael/Labour Coalition’s health reforms. Free GP care for long-term illness patients was promised by Minister Reilly for 2012 but we now find that it may be delayed by at least a year.It now looks more like a pipedream under this Government than an actual Health Policy that will be delivered to patients.

“Legal issues are the lastest obstacle being cited for this delay. If this is the actual case it is incredible if not unbelievable that it took more than a year in Government for the alleged legal difficulty to come to light given that the commitment to start the roll-out of a free GP service was a Fine Gael and Labour election promise from long before the 2011 General Election.

“Many will suspect that the alleged legal difficulty is a convenient excuse to cover a  retreat brought about by the financial crisis in the Health sector, a crisis worsening daily  by the ineptitude of Health Minister O Reilly and his increasingly irrational  cuts in services.

“If there is any real substance to this legal difficulty then the whole basis of the promised reforms of Minister O Reilly and his Coalition colleagues is in question and must be challenged on their abject failure to provide a proper legislative foundation for those promised reforms.”