Campaigners for the elderly have welcomed the extension of the free GP scheme to include over-70s.
Registration for the GP cards opened today, and nearly 40,000 people will be able to avail of the scheme from August 5th.
This is the second group of people to have the initiative rolled out, after those aged under-6 had it introduced earlier this month.
The Health Minister Leo Varadkar has said it was never his intention to limit free GP care for the under-6s.
Mr Varadkar has pledged to offer free GP care to all school children if the government is re-elected.
"It was only ever a first step, so I'm keen now to get on with the next steps", he told the Pat Kenny Show.
The details of the next phase will be announced later today by Primary Care Minister Kathleen Lynch.
"As and from today, people over 70 who don't have a medical card will in fact be entitled to register and be able to access a GP service from Wednesday with a GP card", she told Newstalk Breakfast.
"The whole policy is to ensure that when you're healthy you stay healthy".
When asked where the scheme was going next, Ms Lynch said: "It is the intention that the next cohort of people in terms of - for instance - those in primary education, the under-12s, and then moving on to the under-18s; that is to encapsulate the entire of the childhood piece".
She also explained why they wanted to space out the schemes.
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Age Action spokesperson Geard Scully said "as a move towards the restoration of universal entitlement to health care for the over 70s this an important step."
Spokesperson for Irish Senior Citizens Parliament, Mairead Hayes, also welcomed the move, saying "better collection of data and monitoring of the health and wellbeing of those aged 70 will, in time, lead to better health outcomes for all older people."
"As a nation we need to systematically plan for the future well being of all citizens of the state and her hope is that this measure will aid and facilitate this process for all those aged over 70 now," she added.
