Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I understand that the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, is back in his spiritual home of Cuba as we speak. I have spoken to him previously about rural GP services. The Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, knows from his local area that the offer has to be changed to make it far more attractive for GPs to come to work in rural areas. We also have to support our existing GPs. Since I raised this issue a few weeks ago, I have been inundated with calls from all over the country from existing GPs who are about to throw in the towel because of the pressure they are under, the lack of backup and the lack of understanding. I ask the Minister of State not to give me the standard answer about the GMS contract because that is not good enough anymore. We need a whole new response and a whole new focus. Perhaps the Minister for Rural and Community Development needs to be involved in this as well.

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