Dr. Diarmuid Quinlan:

I am from Glanmire. When I drive around, I see massive building going on at the moment in Glanmire and we have not expanded our GP capacity anywhere near sufficiently to look after these people. I share the Deputy’s pain in regard to his constituency and I know Deputy Colm Burke in my constituency will feel the same. This is a widespread problem. In terms of looking at solutions, the ICGP proposes a working group on the future of general practice so we have a strategic, high-level working group to accurately identify and work through the solutions. Looking at the GP workforce is fundamental but that will take time, as Mr. Moran said. It is also a matter of looking at the wider primary care team of GP nurses and allied health care professionals to support general practice and to support GPs, so we create capacity within the existing system. That may represent a shorter term solution but there are no quick fixes.