Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To be fair to the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, to his Department and to the HSE they have put in a huge amount of work to increase the training places, working closely with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. The numbers are certainly going in the right direction. The number of doctors entering GP training has more than doubled from 120 back in 2009 to 286 last year and 350 new entrant training places are planned for this year. That has been matched with an increase in the funding and the budget being made available by the Minister. Back in 2019 the HSE paid just over €560 million to GPs across all the fees and support schemes there. Last year that figure had increased to €790 million, which is an increase of €230 million or 41%. They have a whole range of initiatives to help communities ensure access to GP cover. I acknowledge the point the Deputy is making.

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