Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

The general practitioner sector was one of the last elements of the health service that functioned properly. Now are seeing incredible two- or three-week delays for a simple first appointment with doctors throughout the country. That is if doctors will take people onto their lists. Many thousands of people now cannot even get on a doctor's list, which means that they are locked out of GP healthcare. Many of these people are then forced to go to hospital accident and emergency departments, which has the effect of increasing the blockage in that element of the health service as well. In the past few months, the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, said that he is seeking to increase the number of medical training places in the universities by approximately 35%. That will take at least seven years to come to fruition in terms of bigger numbers. The key element is that even if we have more graduated GPs, a massive number of GPs still see their career in Australia or other countries rather than Ireland. What is the Government's plan to ensure that Irish citizens can actually get a doctor when they are sick?

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