Children aged six and seven now entitled to free GP care

Around 500,000 additional persons, who otherwise had to pay to visit their GP will now become eligible for free GP care this year, it was recently announced.

Local Fine Gael TD, Frank Feighan, this week, welcomed the announcement by Government that it is estimated that 78,000 children aged six and seven will be entitled to free GP visits from mid-August with a a further 430,000 people in households earning no more than the median income entitled to free GP cards in two phases with applications set to open from mid-September and mid-November.

The full-year cost of the package agreed with the IMO amounts to €130 million.

Applications for cards for children aged 6 and 7 will open on August 11 and processed online on the HSE website similar to the way parents apply for a card for children under 6. 

No income limits will apply for GP cards for children aged 6 and 7.

GP Care for households earning no more than the median income – Budget 2023 measure

Applications for the first group (lower income limits) under the median-income expansion will commence on 11 September while applications for the full group (higher income limits) under the median-income expansion will commence on 13 November.
Applications will be processed online on the HSE website.
The same expenses (housing costs, transportation, etc.) as are currently set against income in Medical or GP Visit Card applications will also continue to apply.
Allowable expenses you should include in your application include rent payments, mortgage payments, childcare costs, travel to work costs and maintenance payments. 

There will be an information campaign ahead of the opening of applications to provide further information to the public.