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

That is fine. I thank Mr. Gloster and I appreciate that very much.

I will move on to the issue of the serious shortage of GPs. There is an initiative but it is not clear exactly how it stacks up as regards the shortage of rural GPs. It would be good to get further information on that, albeit not today. The dire shortage of GPs in urban disadvantaged areas is equally pressing. We see the inverse care law apply in many urban areas, including in my own constituency. At one stage with a previous Minister it had been Government policy to introduce salaried GPs. I know from my engagement with graduate doctors that there is a huge level of interest in GPs being able to take a well-paid job. In the main, graduates want to practise as a doctor; they do not want to be businesspeople and do not have the capital behind them to get their own premises. They frequently said we would never expect school principals to provide their own school buildings. Why are we not addressing this issue by way of salaried GPs? The model that is there is 40 years old and based on contracts.