Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Can we have some detail on how that target is going to be met? We have a GP crisis which has been going on for a very long time. My predecessor from County Clare, Michael Harty, was elected to this House on the basis of the GP crisis and the fact that the number of rural GPs in particular was reducing. It would not be unfair to suggest that his experience here was somewhat frustrating and through no fault of his or no lack of effort on his part the situation was not any better when he left than it is now. We still regularly read in the newspapers of a GP crisis. We learn that one in three consultant positions is either unfilled or filled from an agency. There are 59,000 people waiting for healthcare across the mid-west. Resources are being poured into it but of course the population is aging due to a number of factors including dietary and health outcomes. I also learned that more than 200,000 PPS numbers were issued this year in Ireland. While we are pouring resources in our population is also growing. I struggle to have confidence in how the Government is going to meet these targets it repeatedly issues.

See this speech in context