Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 May 2026
1360. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Health the position regarding measures being taken, or planned, by her Department or the HSE to address capacity constraints which may impact on eligible persons accessing GP services and the schemes to which they are entitled in north County Dublin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39482/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is committed, as per the Programme for Government, to increase the number of GPs practicing across the country and thereby increase access to GP service for all patients.
Over €340 million in additional annual investment in general practice has been provided under the 2019 and 2023 GP GMS Agreements. The Agreements provide for, amongst other things, increased GP capitation fees, increased and new supports for practices, as well as new fees for additional services. Specific supports are available for eligible practices in rural areas and in areas of urban social deprivation.
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. As a result, the number of GP graduates has increased in recent years and will continue to increase in the coming years. Furthermore, recruitment of GPs from abroad is ongoing under the International Medical Graduate (IMG) Rural GP Programme, with the placement of IMG GPs targeted to rural and underserved areas.
Also, a Strategic Review of General Practice is currently underway, led by my Department and with support from the HSE. The review is examining the issues effecting general practice, including issues related to GP capacity, and will consider further possible mechanisms to attract GPs to rural and underserved areas. When completed the review will set out recommended actions for a more sustainable general practice.
Regarding oral health, my Department and the HSE are currently developing a Phase 1 Oral Health Action Plan which sets out a focused, two-year programme to stabilise oral health services, reduce waiting times, and deliver meaningful improvements in access for patients, while laying the foundations for longer-term reform. The Plan responds to sustained service pressures, workforce constraints and growing waiting lists, particularly for children and people with additional needs.
The Plan includes 10 key points for implementation which include:
• Addressing waiting lists for the School Dental programme and orthodontic services.
• Negotiation with the Irish Dental Association to support waiting list initiatives and the Smile agus Sláinte National Oral Health Policy.
• Improvement and expansion of the Special Access programme for dental care.
• A review of the Dental Treatment Services Scheme.
• Support for recruitment, education and training for dental services positions.
• Support for innovation and new models of delivery for services.
The implementation of the Plan will be overseen by a Governance group established for this purpose and will align with broader HSE & Department of Health strategic priorities.
Finally, in regard to access to other primary care services, please note that overall activity within the eight Primary Care therapies was significant in 2025, with over 1.3 million patients seen last year across Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Dietetics, Psychology, Speech & Language Therapy, Audiology, Ophthalmology and Podiatry services. However, the waiting lists for Primary Care therapies have increased significantly in recent years.
To address the long waiting times, my Department is working with the HSE on a focused Programmatic Approach to Primary Care Therapy Waiting Lists, which in delivering three distinct workstreams, is putting in place considerable standardised infrastructure to support systematic responses to Primary Care waiting lists.
Under this programme of work, the HSE has been asked to put measures in place to address Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech & Language Therapy waiting lists, to reduce the waiting times for these three therapies, to less than 39 weeks. This initiative is estimated to remove over 60,000 people from the waiting lists of the three focus therapies by the end of this year.
The initiative is progressively being rolled out across Integrated Healthcare Areas (IHAs) throughout this year; and since it began in Q4 2025 waiting lists are reducing with over 6.4k patients removed from the waiting lists for the three focus therapies (from end September 2025 to end February 2026).
To support the Programmatic Approach and the maintenance of waiting list reductions, an additional 200 Primary Care therapy WTEs are being provided for as part of the National Service Plan 2026.
