General Practitioner Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-05
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Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (FG), Dún Laoghaire

I find myself in agreement with all of the five points Deputy Daly made, such that I do not believe it is necessary to repeat them. I look forward to working with him on the practical points he has made, particularly in relation to the out of hours framework, the premises structure, what we might do and how we might think about that, and the development of that in terms of a tax-efficient way of encouraging activity. The Deputy correctly recognised the public-private element to it. I must also recognise it from the perspective of the taxpayer, and I think that is reasonably fair, but I do not see the need to repeat all those things that I already agree with him on, but I look forward to his input in how we improve them. I thank him for that.
In relation to Cork, while no GMS general practitioner posts are vacant in County Cork, I do understand, for example, in the area Deputy O'Shea represents, in Charleville, in particular, that there is a practice that is going from three GPs to two GPs. The impact that this has on the community is hugely significant. It should not be understated. While it is one GP, that is what matters. It is the hours that are available. It is the support that is there to the community. I recognise the point the Deputy is making. I know HSE officials are continuing to engage with him on that on behalf of his community.
In relation to the query regarding the orthodontic service in Cork, it is anticipated that the whole-time equivalent of specialist orthodontist will reduce to 2.83 from May 2026. That is on foot of three clinical staff retiring from duty, and that has a big impact. Plans to restore the whole-time equivalent levels of specialist orthodontist and senior surgeon posts are being advanced and finalised in HSE south west. In terms of any anticipated retirements for this year, we have not received any indications of retirements from the remaining clinicians but a specialist orthodontist has been on periods of sick leave, which is impacting further delivery. We had a conversation about the importance of that earlier. I thank the Deputy for raising it.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-05