The Minister for Health has claimed that Fine Gael will move ahead with introducing free GP care for all children if the party is re-elected.

Speaking at the McGill Summer School in Glenties, Donegal, on Thursday, Leo Varadkar, said that the Government ‘ has already expressed its desire to extend GP care without fees to all children in a second term, if we are re-elected'.

"I think that can be done. And I can see no reason why we should not do so within the first years of the new Government, perhaps extending it first to all primary school children and then to all secondary school children," he commented.

The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) said that no discussions on this issue have so far taken place, however it is currently in discussion with the Department of Health on a new GP contract.

However, according to Fianna Fail, Minister Varadkar's statement is ‘yet another election gimmick'.

"It is clear that the Fine Gael election campaign is in full swing. Leo Varadkar is trying to win an election by promising to extend GP care to under-18s. The coalition has broken a litany of promises that the public is now paying for. The health service is in complete chaos due to gross mismanagement by former Minister, James Reilly, and the shocking hands off-approach taken by Minister Varadkar," commented Fianna Fail Cllr in Dublin West, Jack Chambers.

Minister Varadkar's statement comes just weeks after the introduction of free GP care for young children. 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 was not 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 serious illnesses are being refused medical cards because their parents are just above the medical card income threshold.

However, according to the Department of Health, the vast majority of GPs have now agreed to take part in the scheme.

To sign your child up for free GP care, click here