Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 March 2026
420. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health to respond to matters raised in correspondence (details supplied); if her attention has been drawn to the discrepancies around the cost of a medical report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22937/26]
View answerThe requirements for the submission of a medical report from a registered medical practitioner with driving licence applications for certain categories of persons are governed by the National Driver Licence Service and the Department of Transport.
GPs are private practitioners. Most GPs hold contract(s) with the HSE for the provision of certain health services without charge, such as for the provision of GP care to medical card and GP visit card holders under the GMS contract.
Under the terms of the current GMS contract, GPs are required to provide eligible patients, persons who hold a medical card or GP visit card, with ''all proper and necessary treatment of a kind usually undertaken by a general practitioner and not requiring special skill or experience of a degree or kind which general practitioners cannot reasonably be expected to possess". Eligible persons are not subject to any co-payments or other charges in respect of such services including GP consultations.
The HSE reimburses GPs for services provided under the GMS contract to medical and GP visit card holders. The contract stipulates that fees in respect of certain medical certificates which may be required, for example, "under the Social Welfare Acts or for the purposes of insurance or assurance policies or for the issue of driving licences" are not covered by the contract.
Any fees charged by GPs for services provided outside the terms of the GMS contract are a matter of private contract between the GP and their patient.
