Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach referred to his and my discipline of general practice in respect of Sláintecare. As he will know, the continuation of financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, has devastated general practice and it will take years for general practice to recover. He referred to the expansion of primary care, which is an essential component of Sláintecare, and he was quite right that we cannot expand eligibility or services unless there is the manpower to do so. That is the very issue: we do not have the manpower in general practice to underpin Sláintecare. We do not have the capacity in general practice to supply the increased eligibility that the Taoiseach proposes and to expand the range of services if GPs are not available. We are losing GPs from our urban practices, not to mention from our rural practices, and we cannot recruit GPs to supply the extra services.

The Taoiseach has put the cart before the horse. If our health service is to be reformed, manpower in general practice needs to be expanded, which is the underpinning of Sláintecare. Unless we have an expansion of primary care, Sláintecare cannot progress. The Government is damaging general practice by the continuation of FEMPI and the failure to reverse it.

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