Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I mention the locum services and the Deputy highlighted the difficulty in getting insurance. I invite him to bring that to me directly as Minister of State with responsibility for insurance. If there is a systemic issue, I will raise it. I will discuss it with Insurance Ireland and try to find a route for it. It seems that getting locums often involves asking people who have retired to help. We are living longer lives and working longer lives. People may wish to do locum or flexible working and it should be easier to get insurance. I am happy to pick that element up with the Department of Health and I ask the Deputy to provide me with more information on that.

It is important to analyse the rate of increase in GPs entering training contracts relative to the rate of increase of population. It is clear that it is a significant expansion relative to 2009 but whether it is going to keep pace and get ahead of pace with the continued population growth, as ahead of profile as you might have expected that to be, is important to analyse. There is an opportunity to bring non-EU GPs in and to benefit from the influx of immigration that we have had into this State, which includes a range of skilled and less skilled people and professional and non-professional people. We must take advantage of the skills they bring to Ireland. To make sure that is well distributed around the country, so that everybody benefits from that, is an important initiative and one which warrants intense focus and scrutiny by the Deputy and every other Deputy in the House.

The number of doctors training to work as GPs in the country has increased significantly in recent years and will continue to do so. However, the question is: how it is analysed versus population growth and the distribution of that? More work needs to be done to improve GP services further and to cater for increased demand. The strategic review of general practice will examine a comprehensive range of issues, including GP capacity services in rural areas, such as west Cork, and identify that change is needed for a better GP service in the future.

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