Ms Marie O'Shea:

We tried. We absolutely tried to do that. We tried to survey them. We had to go through the HSE's contracts office for them to send out the survey. We advertised it twice in the Irish Medical Times, but the response rate was very low. There is a dearth of information as to why GPs do not provide the service. It is indicative. What we do know from the literature and their own responses is that excessive workload seems to be a factor. Also, the proximity of a providing hospital seems to be a factor.