Over 100,000 children aged five years and under have been signed up to receive free GP care since registration for the new scheme began on June 15, the Department of Health has said.

Since July 1, all children in the State under the age of six years have been eligible for free GP care. The scheme applies to around 276,000 children aged five and under who do not have medical cards.

The controversial scheme has not been welcomed by all, with some GPs refusing to offer the service. They are insisting that without the provision of adequate resources to GPs, young patients may have to wait longer to be seen.

Some have also questioned the decision to provide free care to healthy children under the age of six whose parents may be financially stable, when some children over the age of six with life-threatening illnesses are being refused medical cards because their parents are just above the medical card income threshold.

However, according to the Department of Health, around 86% of GPs have now agreed to take part.

Commenting on the scheme, the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, said that he was ‘very encouraged by the sign-up of parents and doctors' and expects more children to be signed up in the coming months.

"This gradual registration shows that parents are not rushing to be able to bring their children to a doctor and are likely to attend only as their child needs to be seen. It reassures me that concerns that parents will flood GP surgeries with children who do not need to see a doctor are not well founded," he commented.

He said that this universal approach to GP care ‘brings us into line with what other European countries did decades ago'.

"Removing the cost of GP visits for children under six removes a potential source of stress for parents. It gives peace of mind to these families of a quarter of a million children and is one less burden faced by their parents," Minister Varadkar added.

To sign your child up for the scheme, click here