Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There are three parts to this. The Chairman raised the matter with me in the Dáil last week. The first part is to acknowledge that we need to train far more GPs. I am pleased to see that the number of GPs entering training is increasing. That is not a political statement. The Irish College of General Practitioners and others are welcoming this. We are now training more GPs than ever and that is good news.

The second part is how the hell we ensure they stay GPs and how we keep them in Ireland. The GP contract is an important part of that. A doctor can now become a GP in an era that will be post FEMPI, one in which doctors will be better resourced and supported not only financially but in terms of paternity leave, maternity leave, increased rural allowance and a fund for areas of urban deprivation if a doctor is working there.

The third point is the immediate issue. What I have just said is good and important but the third point is the immediate issue. There are areas today that need a GP tomorrow. I commend what the HSE is doing in this regard, which is trying to be flexible in terms of how we can do practical things to incentivise a GP to stay in an area. This may include things like trying to find premises for the GP, integrating the practice into a primary care centre or trying to assist with ancillary staffing. This are things that make it a little more likely that a GP will agree to go into a given area. I know the HSE are working on several areas throughout the country. I think there is locum cover or GP cover in all of them. Certainly, that is what I understood from my last briefing note, but people want a permanent GP.