It comes a decade after free GP care was promised for all under 18s. The party, in a motion on the crisis in GP care, will call for “an entirely new approach to general practitioner services” linked to Sláintecare. It sets out a 20-point plan including calls to expand free GP care to under 12s this year and to everyone by 2030. “Free GP care for everyone may sound radical, but it is the European norm. When free GP care was initially extended to young children, he noted the number of appointments “went up to the European norm”.

Source: Irish Examiner February 24, 2026 17:40 UTC