David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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633. To ask the Minister for Health the total number of persons in 2021 eligible for free general practitioner care paid for by the State; the total cost; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12840/22]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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634. To ask the Minister for Health the total number of persons currently eligible for free general practitioner care paid for by the State; the total cost to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12841/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 633 and 634 together.

As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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635. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons who do not currently qualify for free general practitioner care but would if general practitioner care was freely and universally available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12842/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As of 1^stFebruary 2022, 1,539,900 held eligibility for a medical card while an additional 526,825 held eligibility for a GP visit card. This means that 2,066,725 held eligibility for free GP Services, over 41% of the current population.

According to most recent CSO statistics, Ireland's total population was estimated to be 5,011,500. As such, if a measure to introduce universal GP care was implemented, an additional 2,944,775 individuals would become eligible for free GP care.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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636. To ask the Minister for Health the modelling his Department has carried out to deliver full universal and free general practitioner care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12843/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Several analyses have been undertaken to estimate the future demands for GP capacity, and the related GP expenditure, across a number of eligibility scenarios including universal GP care without charges.

The HSE report on Medical Workforce Planning Future Demand for General Practitioners 2015-2025provides estimates on the additional demand for GPs and the training numbers necessary to meet that demand under different eligibility scenarios including universal GP care. The report notes that to meet the demand for GPs that may be required by 2025, the State would require significant increases to the annual intake for GP postgraduate specialist training.

Building on this work, the HSE publication The Demand for Medical Consultants and Specialists to 2028 and the Training Pipelineto Meet Demandprovides estimates on the demand for GPs by 2028 based on rolling out GP care without charges to the under 18’s and over 70’s as well as universal free GP care.

Measures taken by the Government to increase GP capacity and the number of GPs in the State are already having an impact. There has been a significant increase in the number of GPs entering training in recent years, up from 120 in 2009 to 233 in 2021, with large increases made in recent years. The transfer of responsibility for training to the ICGP, completed last year, will result in further increases in the coming years. 259 GP training places are planned for 2022.

Due to the wide range of payments and variables that must be accounted for, and the requirement to determine the scope of services to be provided to newly eligible cohorts in consultation with the IMO, it is not possible to definitively calculate the cost of universal GP care without charges. However, the 2019 IGEES paper Costing Framework for the Expansion of GP Careprovides a cost estimate for universal GP care, as does the 2018 ERSI study Universal GP care in Ireland: Potential Cost Implications.

Other relevant analyses include the Department of Health’s Health Service Capacity Review 2018which estimates future capacity requirements, including those in primary care, for the period to 2031, and the Projections of Expenditure for Primary, Community and Long-Term Care in Ireland, 2019–2035, based on the Hippocrates Model(July 2021) research paper from the ESRI, which was funded by the Department of Health and which projects expenditure for most primary, community, and long-term health and social care services in Ireland for the years 2019–2035.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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637. To ask the Minister for Health the timeline for the full roll-out of universal and free general practitioner care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12844/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As per the Programme for Government, the Government is committed to increasing access to GP care without charges for more children, an important healthcare measure that will remove a potentially prohibitive cost barrier to accessing GP care and will help to improve children’s health as they develop.

Budget 2022 provides for the initial stage of this phased expansion, the provision of GP care without fees to all children aged 6 and 7 and my Department and the HSE are working to roll the service out.

The Sláintecare vision for universal access to healthcare at low or no cost recognises the need for careful planning, as expanding eligibility could generate significant increases in demand for GP and other primary care services. Eligibility is to be expanded on a phased basis in line with GP capacity so as not limit the ability of general practice to meet the needs of all patients in the community. As such there is currently no timeline for universal GP care without charges.

Measures taken by the Government to increase GP capacity and the number of GPs in the State are already having an impact. There has been a significant increase in the number of GPs entering training in recent years, up from 120 in 2009 to 233 in 2021, with large increases made in recent years. The transfer of responsibility for training to the ICGP, completed last year, will result in further increases in the coming years. 259 GP training places are planned for 2022.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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638. To ask the Minister for Health if he has considered the introduction of salaried general practitioners working for the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12845/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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GPs are private practitioners who hold contracts with the HSE to provide services under various public health schemes; there are no plans at present to directly employ GPs. Any proposed model involving salaried GP positions would require careful consideration to ensure the required level of service could be provided for medical card and GP visit card holders.

The 2019 GP Agreement on Contractual Reform and Service Development includes a commitment to undertake a strategic review of GP services within the lifetime of the Agreement, to examine how best to ensure the provision of GP services in Ireland for the future. Work on the review is to commence this year. The review will examine the broad range of issues affecting general practice, and will set out measures necessary to deliver a sustainable service into the future.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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639. To ask the Minister for Health the number of general practitioners that will be trained for the next six years by year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12846/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The HSE takes several factors into consideration when making its annual assessment of the number and type of specialist training places required within each specialty including but not limited to, future medical workforce planning projections, the number currently in training and the training capacity within the health system.

Targeted increases across a number of specialist training programmes are planned for July 2022 and the HSE is currently working with all relevant stakeholders to agree the July 2022/23 specialist training intakes, including Surgery, Medicine, Psychiatry and General Practice.

The number of GPs entering training has increased steadily over the past number of years, rising from 120 in 2009 to 233 in 2021. 258 places will be available in 2022. The transfer of GP training from the HSE to the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) which was concluded in 2021 will allow for the introduction of a new service model for GP training in Ireland and the further expansion GP training capacity in the years ahead. The ICGP aims to have 350 training places available for new entrants per year by 2026. Until then, the annual increases in training places will be determined on an annual basis by the training capacity of the health system.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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640. To ask the Minister for Health the number of general practitioner training places that were provided in each of the years 2016 to 2021 and to date in 2022; the number that went on to become general practitioners working in the State by year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12847/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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GP training is in the main four years in duration.  Those undertaking GP training through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) pathway in Medicine & Emergency medicine complete training in 3 years.  Those undertaking the RPL Paediatric pathway complete in 3 years 8 months.

The intake to GP Training has increased from 159 in 2015 to 258 places available in 2022, this is expected to increase by 10% each year to reach target of 350 intake by 2026.

Irish College of General Practitioner records demonstrate that of the 928 graduates of Irish GP training in the last 5 years (2016-2021), 821 of these doctors (88.5%) are currently in active practice as a GP in Ireland.

Details of the number of annual intake of trainees on to the GP training programme, and the numbers graduating in each of the years 2016 to 2022, are set out in the schedule below:

*Expected intake in July 2022. The ICGP are currently recruiting for the July 2022 entrants to training so the filled places cannot be confirmed at this time.

**GP Trainees graduated in 2022 as of 7^thMarch 2022.