Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Scotland has 4,953 GPs for a population of 5.2 million. Wales has 2,887 for a population of 3 million. We have 2,500 in the State to cover a population of 4.7 million. Where are the tens of millions of euro the Tánaiste referred to going? Every time I ask a question about the development of primary care services, I get the same answer, which is services will be provided from within existing resources. We will be 1,000 GPs short over the next decade. More people do not have an entitlement to access their GPs. They will go onto a waiting list and wait like everybody else for healthcare. Seven in ten GPs can no longer take on new patients. Where will the new patients go? The Government is doing nothing to address the underlying causes of these problems. When does the Government plan to reverse the FEMPI legislation completely for GPs? When will the negotiations be concluded? What concrete steps will the Government take to increase capacity, which is key? Making a promise it cannot keep seems to have become the hallmark of this Government. It is telling people they will now have access to a GP when seven in ten GPs in the State are saying they will not take on any new patients.

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