General Practitioner Services
Dail Éireann — 2021-10-19
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Stephen Donnelly (FF), Wicklow

The short answer is "Yes". The first thing we needed to do was to provide more GP training posts. The change here is very impressive. In 2009, we had 120 people entering GP training. In 2020, we had 233. Step one has seen a very significant increase in the trainee positions. I take the Deputy's point that there is no point training these amazing people to be GPs only to see them leave the country. I am aware that many trainees are saying that they do not want to work in the old ways, and that they do not want to set up a practice on their own and work on their own. We know that many GPs want to work together and that they are interested in multidisciplinary teams and much more integrated care. One of the challenges we face in terms of some of the rural smaller practices is exactly that younger GPs want to work together. We are making various changes. Is there more that we can and should do? Yes, I believe there is.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2021-10-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:43+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-10-19