General Practitioner Services Dail Éireann — 2021-09-15 ============================================================ Michael Lowry (IND), Tipperary A thriving town centre general practice in Templemore is closing as the HSE has failed to appoint a replacement for the retiring doctor. The proposed closure of this practice, which has 800 patients, is causing distress, fear and inconvenience. Patient-doctor relationships are built on trust and confidence. The family doctor ethos is cherished and respected by every family in Templemore and the district. Medical card patients in Templemore are being transferred to the only other GP practice in the town. Private patients have been left to source their own future medical care. In Templemore, the GP in question made his intentions known to the HSE last February. The HSE recruitment campaign has failed dismally to attract interest from doctors. The people of Templemore are angry and feel let down by the HSE. I give way to my colleagues. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-09-15/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:34+00:00 Sitting date: 2021-09-15