One of the organisations representing the country's GPs has denied rejecting free GP care for under-sixes because doctors won't be paid enough.
The government is expected to offer GPs €100 per year per child under the scheme, no matter how many times a child visits the doctor.
The National Association of General Practitioners represents 1,200 doctors in Ireland.
It says children with serious and life-limiting illnesses should have free medical care, rather than giving cards to healthy children.
Chris Goody of the NAGP told The Last Word that rejecting the under-sixes scheme was not a way of looking for better pay.