Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have constituents who are young families and single people who have moved to north Kildare and they cannot access a GP. Some of them are young mothers who cannot get vaccinations for their children or babies. Within 5 km of where I live, five GPs have recently retired. I have submitted parliamentary questions on this, but the replies tell me that GPs are a private matter and not the job of the Government. However, in the programme for Government, the Government promised to deliver care in the community and to strengthen general practice. The market seems unable to look after this. I hope the Tánaiste will agree that this is an urgent public health matter. With waiting lists so long and emergency departments so busy, GPs are the Holy Grail at the moment in primary healthcare. What is the Government doing to address this?

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