Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 January 2026
896. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Health if she will consider emergency or interim measures such as temporary HSE-run clinics or locum supports to ensure continuity of care in areas where GP practices have closed their lists; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3385/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraGPs 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 a town or community.
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 2,598 GPs contracted to provide services under the GMS Scheme. Where a vacancy arises in a practice with a GMS contract, the HSE becomes actively involved in the recruitment process to find a replacement GP. While recruitment is ongoing, the HSE put a locum or other suitable arrangement in place to provide continuity of care for the area concerned.
Where a person that holds a medical card or GP visit 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.
People 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.
As per the Programme for Government, the Government is committed to increasing the number of practicing GPs in the State and thereby improving access for patients. Investment in general practice has been significantly increased under the 2019 and 2023 GP Agreements, providing for increased fees and supports for GPs, as well as for new services. The annual number of GP training places has been greatly increased in recent years, and new entrant places will increase by a further 50 this year to 400. Furthermore, recruitment of GPs from abroad continues under the International Medical Graduate (IMG) Rural GP Programme which targets the placement of participating doctors to practices in rural and underserved areas.
