Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for missing the presentations but I was listening as they were being broadcast. There are a number of issues. We talk about primary care and primary care teams. How much will GPs embrace working together? Are they reluctant? Let us be very clear, there was resistance by a lot of GPs to the initial move to roll out primary care teams across the country. It was one of the factors that delayed the process. In terms of working together in the primary care setting with a primary care team, is there still resistance from GPs to embracing that broader concept? If there is, we have a huge difficulty because it will be the backbone of how we deliver primary care in the years ahead.

One challenge is retaining GPs in some areas, particularly those where there are lower socioeconomic groupings or financial deprivation, and in rural areas. What are the witnesses' views on the issue of salaried GPs in view of the fact we are at times unable to recruit or retain them?