Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. He stated that additional emergency appointments are provided in Ballymore Eustace as required, with appointments also available at the Blessington practice. My understanding is that additional emergency appointments are not being given.There are no same-day appointments in the Blessington practice. Some people have had to wait weeks for that. I appreciate there are some areas where there is a shortage of available GPs. The Minister of State's response was that while a GP cannot be directed to open a practice in Ballymore Eustace, there is a GP who wants to do that. I question how one GP can hold on to a contract that has been reduced from four clinics to two, with one of them on a Monday. That is absolutely wrong. It is being ignored by the HSE. That practice is just driving the practice into Blessington. Many people I know in Ballymore Eustace are using Vista and out-of-hours services, so something is wrong. I will respond with an email to the Minister and copy the Minister of State on it. I will also contact the HSE directly. I thought it was important enough to bring up as a Commencement matter here.