Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My only fear is that the Minister of State actually believes what he read because if he does he is completely removed from what is happening in primary care. GP services throughout the country are under huge pressure. In supporting GPs there is an obligation to deliver on the primary care strategy, including the roll-out of chronic disease management and the other things the Minister of State mentioned. However, the Minister of State simply cannot read that answer into the record of the Dáil and think that everything is fine out there. He spoke about a phased roll-out. The critical issue is to have enough GPs to provide the service the Government will roll out in coming years. We simply do not have them at present. Every day GPs and their services are being downgraded. We need to underpin the longer term strategy by providing them with support. He has come in here and said we have planning permission for a few primary care centres when the core issue is supporting the personnel who will deliver primary care - GPs and the allied health care professionals who support them in the community.

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