Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I ask that we look at this strategically and we ask the HSE for a briefing on this, in advance of its representatives coming in so that we try to get an overview of the amount of money going into it and where the gaps are. I completely accept the point about people who are going to retire. Primary care is where the future is, and we need to resource it. We cannot have people going to accident and emergency departments because they cannot get a GP. There are all sorts of other knock-on consequences. If we are to look at this, let us ask the HSE for a briefing in advance specifically on GP services, both out-of-hours and where there are shortfalls, what money goes into it, where the gaps are and what the HSE is doing about it.