Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I have to say this is news to me. I am meeting representatives of the ICGP here in about two and a half hours. I have also spoken to them on the phone regarding this scheme in respect of deploying GPs to the Iveragh Peninsula and around the country, so there has never been any question about the lack of funding. In fact, my ask of the ICGP will be to see if we can go from having 150 people on this training scheme to having 300 or 400 people participating. It is a very successful scheme in respect of people from South Africa and other places. The Deputy should rest assured that not only will the ICGP be funded to bring in the numbers of people he referred to, but I will be asking the organisation if it can double the number of those on the training course to address the shortages of GPs in some inner-city and more rural locations around the country.

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