The HSE official in charge of primary care has stressed that all of the exchequer funds earmarked for the planned under sixes care scheme will go straight to GP practices and none of it is allocated for HSE administration of the scheme.

HSE Director of Primary Care John Hennessy said the €37 million allocated for free GP care for children under six this year was protected within the HSE budget for 2014 and for subsequent years.

GP representative groups have protested that this amount will not be enough to resource the under sixes scheme.

However, Mr Hennessy said this money would be transferred directly to GP practices.

"It is real money that is earmarked and protected and it will transfer to general practice."

Mr Hennessy said there were no HSE administrative costs included within the €37 million allocation and all the funding would go directly to general practice.

Should the scheme, as planned by the Government, start this summer, this would mean extra payments per GP of roughly €12,300 on average for this year, and double that for a full year. Out of that, however, GPs would have to fund practice overheads and running costs.

Mr Hennessy was speaking to reporters after addressing the Irish College of General Practitioners annual conference in Galway last weekend.

GP groups have so far opposed the under sixes scheme, pointing to its resource and workload implications. They have also rejected as unworkable the draft GP contract for the scheme produced by the Department of Health.

The IMO and Primary Care Minister Alex White began 'talks about talks' on implementing the under sixes scheme last Friday, and these are due to resume this week.

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