Michael McHale , 2025-06-20 07:30:00
Dr Tadhg Crowley said lack of supports is having ‘a significant impact on recruitment and retention’ of general practitioners
Ireland’s ‘critically low’ GP numbers will not improve without significant systemic change, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has said.
The union’s GP Committee chair Dr Tadhg Crowley said that a lack of supports to both establish and maintain GP practices was deterring doctors from entering and staying in general practice.
Dr Tadhg Crowley
“While we acknowledge and welcome the fact that more GP training places have been made available in recent years, this has not been matched with supports for new and existing GP practices which is a major deterrent for doctors and is having a significant impact on recruitment and retention,” said Dr Crowley.
“This has led to our critically low GP numbers today.”
He believes that the impact of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Act in 2009 is still being felt.
“General Practice was decimated by the FEMPI cuts during the recession and has not yet fully recovered some 16 years later. As a result we have a severe lack of younger GPs, and those who do enter the specialty are hampered by a range of factors – in particular the costs associated with setting up and running a practice.”
There is a pressing need to build up physical healthcare infrastructure, he said, while also growing the number of undergraduate medicine places.
“If we just increase the number of GP training places, we will only be robbing Peter to pay Paul as other specialties will suffer. Ireland has a lack of doctors across the board, and as such we need more undergraduate places to be made available as a priority.”
Dr Diarmuid Quinlan
The Irish College of GPs (ICGP) said the ESRI research mirrors its own analysis which has predicted increased demand for GP services, with the current workforce unable to keep pace with the rapidly growing population.
“The College has rapidly expanded the number of training places for GPs on its four-year programme in recent years,” said ICGP Medical Director Dr Diarmuid Quinlan.
“The College has 1,191 trainees in supervised training places at present, while training places increased by 22 per cent last year alone, with 350 trainees beginning their training in July 2024 and a further 350 will start in July this year.”
He added: “The College has also initiated a successful International Medical Graduate programme for 150 international GPs to work in rural practices for two years, and we look forward to expanding that programme with the support of the HSE.”
See also ‘Here’s how we overcome the GP shortage’.
