A ‘technical issue' in the online registration system for the under-6 free GP scheme means that some people were able to view data relating to another person's application, the HSE has admitted.

From July 1, all children in the State who are under the age of six will be eligible for free GP care, and Monday marked the first day that parents could register their children's details.

By 12.30pm of that day, 6,000 children had been registered and by the end of the day, this figure had reached 10,000, although the site had crashed a number of times due to 'huge volumes of traffic'.

However, according to the HSE, on Monday evening, ‘a technical issue arose in the online registration system'.

"This resulted in shutting the system for a number of hours overnight. Prior to this, a very small number of people had sight of some data relating to one other individual's application. This matter has been reported to the Data Protection Commissioner as is normal practice in such situations," it said.

It emphasised that the problem has been fixed and the system has been ‘up and running normally since 7am this morning (June 16)'.

The HSE apologised to the families concerned.

It added that as of lunchtime on Tuesday, the second day of registration, over 17,000 children had been registered.

To register your child for free GP care, click here