Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

This just stands to reason. If the HSE does not want people who are sick or concerned about sick children or elderly relatives to go to EDs, it has to provide an alternative. At the moment, out-of-hours services are really only skeleton services. There are several minor injuries clinics and primary care centres around the country, some very well equipped, but I put it to the witnesses that these are not advertised or promoted because there are no staff in them. One obvious solution would be to recruit GPs who would be more than happy to work part-time, on salary and out of hours. Why does the HSE not do that? We know that it would suit many GPs, particularly female GPs and those with young children, very well to work those kinds of shifts or unsocial hours. To me, it is blindingly obvious that the HSE should be recruiting salaried GPs to staff those centres in order that there are alternatives to EDs. Has the HSE considered that? If not, why?