Dr. Brendan O'Shea:

Senator Burke asked how we could fast-track the contract negotiations. From the perspective of the Irish College of General Practitioners, the key thing is that we need more men and women working in GP-led primary care, so we welcome any actions around the contract that will improve recruitment and retention. We can train the graduates in the college but recruitment and retention are critical, so any aspects of the contract that will enable more GPs and more practice nurses to work in communities probably constitute the surest way of improving things on a number of different fronts.