• IMO responds to today’s (Wednesday) ESRI’s Health Service Capacity Review report on future capacity requirements for GP services

 

• ‘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’

Wednesday June 18, 2025.

 

The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has warned that Ireland’s “critically low” GP numbers will not improve without significant systemic change, adding that a lack of supports to both establish and maintain GP practices were deterring doctors from entering and staying in General Practice.

 

The IMO has been warning for many years of the need for ongoing and sustained support for General Practice to match the needs of a growing and ageing population. It was responding to an ESRI Health Service Capacity Review report on future capacity requirements for GP services released today (Wednesday).

 

According to the report, between 2023 and 2040, demand for GP consultations is projected to increase by 23-30%. Reflecting these increases in demand, there will be a need for additional GPs and GP nurses in the coming years. Relative to the 2023 headcount of 3,928 GPs, projected additional requirements range from 943 to 1,211 GPs (24-31% increase) in 2040.

 

Speaking today, Dr Tadhg Crowley, Chair of the GP Committee of the IMO, said: “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. This has led to our critically low GP numbers today.”

 

He said that the impact of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Act in 2009 was 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.”

 

He said that more undergraduate medicine places were needed as a realistic starting point. “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.”

 

He said that along with boosting the GP workforce, it was imperative that the physical infrastructure was also built up to reflect growing demand.