Number of GP visit card holders in Dublin ‘shocking’

MORE people have GP-only medical cards in Cork city and county than in Dublin, Fine Gael claimed yesterday.

The party’s Seanad leader Brian Hayes said that figures he had obtained from the Health Services Executive (HSE) showed there was a shockingly low number of GP visit card holders in Dublin.

He described the imbalance between the capital and other regions of the country such as Cork as “unfathomable”.

Senator Hayes said that the figures illustrate a pressing need for a Dublin-specific information campaign on the qualifying criteria for the GP visit card and a review of the eligibility guidelines. He said: “While we are aware of a massive shortfall in overall take-up of the GP visit card, figures released to me by the HSE reveal there are only 1,878 cardholders in Dublin. Senator Hayes added: “At this rate the Capital has the lowest number of cardholders in the country per head of population.

“There are more GP visit cards in Cork city and county than the whole of Dublin. Given that Dublin accounts for one-third of the population as a whole it is unfathomable that the take-up should be so low.”