Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is all of the above. It will need more resources, if one looks at the trajectory of health expenditure. Much of that is on the human resource because the human capital in health has increased. The numbers of people working in the health service have continued to increase but more and more services have come on stream with it.

It means more investment of capital, in equipment and in additional capacity in hospitals. It should and has to mean more investment in primary care. In that respect, there is a significant increase in training places for GP and for allied health professionals and an increase in medical places in the training colleges. That will be essential, as will the recruitment of internationally qualified primary care practitioners or GPs.

There is greater accessibility now to GPs, from the income threshold perspective. There has been a very dramatic increase in access, from a financial point of view, where more people now have access to a GP card.

However, the point is well made in terms of the need to increase the number of GPs. Training places have been significantly increased, and attracting people from overseas to work in Ireland will also be a necessary part of filling the current gaps in primary care need.

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