Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

While there may be only 23 vacancies, vacancies are no longer counted when a list is not filled and a general practitioner's patients are dispersed to surrounding lists. Many villages and towns no longer have a general practitioner, yet the vacant positions are no longer counted or identified. I am sure there are four or five practices in each county which, having failed to attract a GP, are no longer on the list.