Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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1430. To ask the Minister for Health the measures that he is taking and intends to take to enable Shannondoc to meet the demand for its services as witnessed over the Christmas period; the measures that he is taking to ensure that it is accessible in a timely manner, enabling it to take pressure off UHL’s emergency department; his views on the issues that people have experienced recently when trying to contact Shannondoc; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1238/23]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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1529. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide details on the way that he and his Department are actively engaging with the providers of the North East Doctor on Call service to address the major pressures on the current service which is leaving many persons unable to access out of hours GPs (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1625/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1430 and 1529 together.

GP out of hours co-operatives are private organisations. The HSE provides significant funding to support out of hours co-operative services through service level agreements. The HSE maintains contact with all out of hours service providers. 

In preparation for the increased demand for general practitioner services over the winter period, the HSE Winter Plan 2022/23 provides an additional €10 million in funding to support general practice including GP out-of-hours services. Additional GP supports have been made available to enable GPs to extend existing clinics or run additional clinics practices during weekday evenings and Saturday mornings.

The funding for GP out of hours service providers through a grant arrangement, which was introduced from March 2020, has been increased and additional funding is being provided to co-operatives to enable them to roster additional doctors, local GPs and locum doctors, in out of hour treatment centres from 6pm to 10pm. This will allow more patients to be seen by GP out of hours co-operatives, helping reduce the number of persons attending Emergency Departments.