Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Page 54 of A Programme for a Partnership Government speaks of the need to build GP capacity to respond to patients' needs. Later in the document, it mentions guaranteeing the future sustainability of rural practice. Last weekend, Our Lady's Community Hospital in Manorhamilton in County Leitrim was left without any doctor on call to service it. Last June I raised in the House the fact that this county will lose 50% of its GPs to retirement over the next seven years. What is the Government's plan to implement the aspiration outlined in the programme for Government? Clearly, it is failing in the context of Leitrim. What will the Government do to ensure that patients in Our Lady's Community Hospital have access to a GP out of hours when emergencies arise for the population of the hospital? What will it do for that county to ensure that it does not lose the benefit of 50% of its current population of GPs over the next seven years?

See this speech in context