Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There has been an increase in home care packages. I am a Dublin Deputy but I recognise that the GP service in rural Ireland is in crisis and needs to be supported in more ways. The Deputy referred to emigration but a lot of young people, whether nurses or GPs, want to travel and experience other types of hospital care across the world. It would be unfair to prevent young people from leaving the country once they had finished their training. There was huge difficulty over Christmas, even in Dublin, over GP call-outs but there are commitments by this Government. In respect of new GP contracts, the Minister is very clear that future contractual teams should enjoy the support of a broad community of GPs and be informed by the input of key stakeholders.

To achieve this the Minister has put in place a process that will honour the framework agreement of 2014 with the INMO and include formal consultations between the State and the NAGP. The Minister is pleased that this arrangement has commenced and hopes for constructive and positive engagement. Something is happening, therefore, but, unfortunately, it is probably not happening for many small rural communities. We hope, however, that in the coming months there will be an increase in GP services across the country, particularly locum services. Nonetheless, I will bring the concerns the Deputy has raised to the attention of the Minister and ensure he receives a response from him.

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