None of 255 promised primary care jobs filled

None of 255 primary care posts announced last July have materialised — and the €20m earmarked to fund them has gone towards plugging a €399m hole in the health budget.

Taken together with failure to extend, as promised, free GP care to those with certain illnesses, James Reilly, the health minister, has held back €35m from primary care this year.

This is despite the fact that the beleaguered minister has repeatedly emphasised the crucial role of primary care in his plans to reform the health service, central to the introduction of universal health care.