Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2026
1076. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Health if she is aware that there is a three-year waitlist to access a GP as a new patient in Blessington, Wicklow; the measures that will be taken to address this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11770/26]
View answerGPs are self-employed practitioners and therefore may establish practices at a place of their own choosing. There is no prescribed ratio of GPs to patients, and the State does not regulate the number of GPs that can set up in any area.
Under the GMS scheme, the HSE contracts GPs to provide medical services without charge to medical card and GP visit card holders. Currently there are 2,600 GPs contracted to provide services under the GMS Scheme. A further 637 GPs do not hold a GMS contract but hold some other contract(s) with the HSE for the delivery of health services.
Where a medical card or GP visit card holder, or a person eligible for either card, experiences difficulty in finding a GP to accept them as a patient, the person concerned having unsuccessfully applied to at least three GPs in the area (or fewer if there are fewer GPs in the area) can apply to the HSE Eligibility Unit which has the power to assign a GMS patient to a GP's GMS patient list in accordance with the GMS contract.
Persons who do not hold a medical card or GP visit card access GP services on a private basis and can make enquiries directly to any GP practice they wish to register with. As private practitioners, it is a matter for each individual GP to decide whether to accept additional private patients.
The HSE website provides a "find a GP" facility which can assist in locating and contacting GP in or around the area concerned.
As per the Programme for Government, the Government is committed to increasing the GP workforce. Work is ongoing in this regard, to increase the number of GPs practicing across the country and thereby improve access to GP services for all patients.
Over €340 million in additional annual investment in general practice has been provided under the 2019 and 2023 GP GMS Agreements to, amongst other things, increase payments to GMS GPs and supports for GP practices. The annual intake of doctors into the GP training programme has been increased by approximately 80% from 2019 to 2024, with 350 new entrant training places made available in 2024 and again in 2025. The number of new entrant training places is to increase again this year by 50 places to 400. In addition, recruitment of GPs from abroad is ongoing under the International Medical Graduate (IMG) Rural GP Programme. Under the IMG programme, the placement of GPs is targeted to rural and underserved areas.
