Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 April 2026
151. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Health the reason certain GP practices with high numbers of homeless and vulnerable persons have been excluded from the granting of the social deprivation grant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28376/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe 2019 GP Agreement between the Department of Health, the HSE, and the IMO introduced a social deprivation grant to support GPs in socially deprived urban areas to provide additional services. The grant can be used to cover the costs associated with additional clinical supports such as increased doctor or nurse hours, increased key worker hours, or additional counselling hours to meet the needs of patients within the practice.
It was set out in the Agreement that the GPs to receive the grant would be identified on the basis of a recognised deprivation index. However, work to identify those practices was delayed by the Covid Pandemic. Grants were therefore allocated in the years 2020 to 2024 on the basis of applications received from GPs.
In late 2025, the HSE, the Department of Health, the GP representative body and representatives of GPs working in areas of deprivation reached agreement to improve the targeting of the social deprivation grant, as required by the 2019 Agreement.
The current grant allocation process uses a data analysis approach, as was always intended, based on GEO coding of GP practices and using a recognised deprivation index, in this case Pobal’s HP Deprivation Index which is widely recognised and used. This approach identified the GPs and practices to be included in distribution of the Grant.
The HSE, GP representatives and representatives of GPs working in areas of deprivation, and the Department of Health will carry out a “look back” exercise of the grant allocation process before the end of 2026, with a view to ensuring that the current approach is effective and reaches those most in need.
