THE NEW Minister for Health Dr James Reilly will not be in receipt of any income from State schemes including the medical card scheme while he is a member of the Government, his spokesman said yesterday.
He said another doctor would take over Dr Reilly’s GP large medical practice in Lusk in north Dublin so as to ensure no conflict of interest arose for the new Minister, who has major plans for the reform of the country’s primary care system.
He plans to negotiate a new contract with GPs to get them to treat more patients with chronic disease in the community, to reduce fees paid to GPs and ultimately to provide free GP care to all citizens under the Government’s plan for universal healthcare.
Dr Reilly, a former president of the Irish Medical Organisation, headed up that organisation’s GP committee in 2001 when it negotiated a deal with the Government which saw GPs getting paid four times more for treating some new over 70s medical card holders.
But the code of conduct and ethics of the Standards in Public Office Commission requires a Minister to dispose of or set aside financial interests which might conflict or be seen to conflict with his or her position.
Dr Reilly’s spokesman said: “James Reilly has requested a leave of absence from the GMS scheme for a period while he is Health Minister. Another doctor will take over his practice”.
He said Dr Reilly would not be in receipt of any income from the general medical service scheme to avoid a conflict of interest with his new position . . . and to comply with Standards in Public Office Commission regulations”.