Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I believe there was a lost opportunity for the sustainability of general practice in respect of the deal that was brokered between the Minister, the HSE and GPs earlier this year. As the Minister has often said, 95% of GPs have signed up to that deal. Of course they would because it is returning financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, money that was taken from them over the years. However, it has not addressed the issue of GP recruitment. The contract underpinning GP recruitment is out of date. It was introduced in 1972 and has undergone so few changes since then that it is not fit for purpose. It does not recognise the changing and expanded role of general practice. It does not attract new entrants into jobs such as in Newmarket-on-Fergus. That was a perfectly run practice yet it could not attract a GP because of the contractual commitment that a GP has to engage in is so onerous when running a small business. GPs want to work. They are inflicted with a responsibility they do not want to take on as a result of the contractual arrangements they are offered. The fundamental issue in respect of recruitment is the fact that we do not have an up-to-date, modern contract.

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