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

We do not have time to discuss the whole budget and the provisions of health care in this country, but the feeling out there is that there is a crisis in GP services and that they are being forced to take on more complex cases. This is because of the outsourcing from the acute hospital system, the transfer of long-term illnesses and other complex conditions that are now expected to be treated in the primary setting. No additional resources have been put into GP services. GP services are under financial pressure. They are laying off staff. Then there is the added dimension of younger GPs not finding it an attractive option as a career path. That is sustainable only for so long. The budget for primary care has been consistently reduced, yet we expect GPs to take on additional responsibilities from a clinical point of view and that is unsustainable. It is time the Minister acknowledges that there is a problem and addresses it. Until he decides that, we will have major difficulty in the years ahead in terms of provision of primary care.

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