Sir, – I read with interest your report that the Department of Health believes Irish General Practitioners are not covered by the Croke Park agreement (HEALTHplus, December 6th). Three days after this statement, the Minister for Health flatly contradicted this position when he repeatedly informed the Oireachtas health committee that he expected GPs to embrace reforms in “the spirit of Croke Park”. He threatened that failure to do so would see further reductions in funding for primary care practices, which have already seen massive reductions over the past 18 months.
It appears that for GPs the Croke Park agreement is now an à la cartedocument, which confers no protection whatsoever while simultaneously being used for political intimidation purposes. Questions most also be asked of the role of the Irish Medical Organisation in this bizarre situation. It seems the IMO was the only union in the State prepared to sign up to an agreement that a large proportion of its members were not apparently covered by.
This matter must be clarified urgently if honest negotiations surrounding GP reform are to have any prospect of success. – Yours, etc,