Dr. Karena Hanley:

Deputy Murphy O'Mahony asked how many of our graduates continue to practise in general practice. We have really good news for the Deputy. General practice training works. It has a very low dropout rate and very good retention. Some 92% of graduates from GP training remain practising as GPs, although, alas, at the moment not all of them in Ireland. The other important point is that retention of GPs trained in a rural area is very good. For example, in the past 30 years, of the 100 doctors trained in County Donegal, 50 have stayed practising as GPs in County Donegal. County Cork has an even higher retention figure. Train the GPs in rural areas and they will stay there.

Deputy Murphy O'Mahony asked about practice vacancies. The number of vacant lists have been accelerating. It was approximately 14 in 2014, 21 in 2015 and now is 24. The number is increasing. She also asked about subventions for young doctors such as having a subvention for an older GP to take on a younger partner. That is one of the suggestions in the ICGP vision for rural practice. Of the four recommendations for rural practice, which include education and training initiatives, financial incentives and locum supports, the other recommendation is to fund a rotating assistantship. This was successfully done in my practice when we had better funding, but we do not have the possibility of doing it at present because the level of funding is so badly reduced. I will pass onto my other colleagues to answer other questions.