Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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42. To ask the Minister for Health the action being taken to ensure that rural Ireland has sufficient general practitioner cover; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17092/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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General Practitioners play an important role in the primary care system. The number of General Practitioners on the specialist register continues to increase – up from 2,270 in 2010 to 3,637 at the end of 2017 and the number of GPs contracted by the HSE under the GMS scheme has also risen from 2,098 in 2008 to 2,485 as of 1 April 2018.

The Government is aware of the manpower issues facing general practice and has taken steps to increase the numbers of General Practice training places accordingly.

In 2009, there were 120 General Practice training places available and this year it is expected that over 190 training places will be filled, an increase of around 60% over a nine year period. The number of training places will rise to 259 in coming years. There were over 400 applications for the 2018 training programme which is a significant increase of almost 50% on the number of applications from 2017.

Other efforts undertaken in recent years to increase the number of practicing GPs include changes to the entry provisions to the GMS scheme to accommodate more flexible/shared GMS/GP contracts, and to the retirement provisions for GPs under the GMS scheme, allowing GPs to hold GMS contracts until their 72nd birthday. An enhanced supports package for rural practices has also been introduced which includes improved qualifying criteria for rural support and an increase in the financial allowance from €16,216.07 to €20,000 per annum.

The Government is also committed to engaging with General Practitioner representatives on necessary service improvements and contractual reforms to the current GMS contract. This process is expected to commence in the coming weeks.

Our goal is to develop a contractual framework that has a population health focus, providing in particular for health promotion, disease prevention and for the structured care of chronic conditions. This will enable general practitioners to better meet the needs of patients and will also promote general practice as a viable and rewarding career for both existing doctors and future medical graduates.