HSE director 'confident' of having free GP care for under-6s by mid-2015

The HSE hopes to roll out free GP care for the under sixes by the second quarter of next year.

The agency is in talks with doctors over the issue as it announced its spending plans for the next 12 months today.

The Government has set aside €35m to fund the initiative, but there have been a number of delays.

The executive says it will need exceptional focus to break even next year, even though it got an extra €625m in funding for the health budget.

John Hennessy, National Director of Primary Care with the HSE, says he is hopeful free GP care for the under sixes will be up and running in the second quarter of 2015.

Mr Hennessy said: "I would still remain confident that the arrangements can be worked out.

"I would never pre-empt the outcome of discussions and negotiations with unions in relation to new arrangements like that, but I still remain confident that we will be able to achieve this in quarter two of 2015."