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

I certainly understand the frustration and worry that comes with having difficulty in accessing GP services. That is not what we want. Timely and available access to GP services is critical to good healthcare. In rural and remote areas, in particular, general practice is often in a role of clinical leadership for patients for whom access to other services is farther away.

Being aware of this, and that the country as a whole needs more GPs, the Government has taken a series of measures in recent years - and is committed to continuing them - to increase the number of GPs. Significant investment in general practice has been made under the 2019 and 2023 GP agreements, which provide for increased fees and supports for GPs, including specific supports for rural practices, making general practice in Ireland as a career more attractive, I hope. The agreements also provide for new services for patients, including the GP chronic disease management programme, which is having a transformative effect on patient care. In addition, recruitment of GPs from abroad is ongoing under the international medical graduate, IMG, rural GP programme, with 114 IMG GPs in practice as of October last. Placement of GPs under that programme is targeted at underserved and, in particular, rural areas. Most important for the future, the number of GP training places available has been increased from 202 in 2019 to 350 last year, and that will feed through to an increased number of GPs graduating and entering practice.

I welcome the initiative of the University of Galway to develop medical and pharmacy education with a focus on the differences and additional challenges of delivering services in rural areas. It is appropriate and important that people are being attracted into that from an early stage.

The continued use of increased GP training places and GP recruitment under the international GP programme is committed to under the programme for Government, which also - I think we will come back to this - recognises the potential for using HSE-employed GPs in a variety of locations.

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