John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I want to raise the plight of small rural GP practices. They seem to be in a state of crisis. I am not concerned with practices that have 1,600 or more patients. Many small rural GPs have fewer than 600 patients. There are 21 vacancies for full-time GPs in rural Ireland - 22% have been vacant for two years and 17% have been vacant for one year. Recruitment seems to be the problem. It appears that our investment in rural practice only amounts to 2.5% of the health budget whereas in the UK it is up to 9%. During the crash, rural GPs lost approximately 40% of their income. That included the rural practice allowance that was taken away and travel allowance to call-outs, which was put in place 35 years ago. A higher rate was paid if a longer distance was to be travelled. Now that things have improved, I ask the Minister of State to reverse the financial emergency measures that were introduced in 2008 and 2009 in order to entice GPs into rural practice. Their present situation is being reviewed but the outcome of that review will not be known until the end of 2016.

There is another problem. If rural GPs are forced out because their practice is unsustainable, patients cannot transfer to another local doctor. They are at the mercy of various locums who will be at their disposal and who are not familiar with them to the same degree as the full-time GP.I am also aware that some GPs are earning less than their practice nurses. There is a crisis and investment is the only thing that can solve it. We are talking about the resuscitation of general practice in rural Ireland.