Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the Minister's indication that she hopes for a situation of universal access for GPs to the General Medical Services scheme. That is as it should be and I fully concur with Deputy Lynch's argument. As a backdrop, is there not also the issue of the real shortage of GPs per head of population? When a comparison is made between Ireland and Germany, it is noted that Germany has twice as many GPs per 100,000 of the population. In France the number is in excess of three times as many. The number of GPs in Ireland is 52 per 100,000 of the population and up to 164 GPs per 100,000 of the population in France. Is there not a major need to increase places to allow for a greater throughput of GPs into the system? In 2001, some 600 primary care units were promised but only 112 have been realised and there is a real need. Will the Minister comment on this aspect of the question posed?

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