‘If we aren’t supporting our GPs to stay in Ireland, then it cannot be a surprise that we don’t have the numbers available to meet the demands of a growing and ageing population’

Wednesday August 5, 2026. The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has called for a major investment in General Practice to enable GPs to expand capacity and infrastructure.

The IMO was responding to figures confirming that almost 6,000 people have contacted the HSE so far this year seeking help in finding a GP. 

It said that the State had not invested sufficiently in GP infrastructure to date and recommended that supports must be introduced on two fronts:

• To enable to established practices to take on more GPs; and
• To support newly qualified GPs with dedicated supports to set up new practices

It added that targeted supports were urgently needed in deprived and rural areas to meet demand.

Speaking today, Prof Tadhg Crowley, Chair of the GP Committee of the IMO, acknowledged that the State had invested in additional GP training places, but said there were no supports for GPs beyond their training. “We have a cohort of highly trained professionals and we must ensure they are enabled to meet the needs of patients through pathways to partnerships in existing practices or through targeted supports in establishing new practices. It is hugely difficult for newly-graduated GPs to set up their own practices, which contributes to our significant recruitment and retention problem.”

Prof Crowley said that he was concerned that the numbers of people contacting the HSE did not reflect the true scale of the problem. “The number of people without a GP around the country is likely to be much higher than 6,000 and the danger is that these patients source healthcare with online providers or other services which may not always be appropriate and do not deliver the continuity of care a GP offers.”

He said that GPs were operating at full capacity and many could not take on new patients. “GPs cannot just take on new patients endlessly. Each doctor must assess their patient base to ensure they can all be treated safely.”

He added that while it was a good thing that Ireland’s population was growing, it had exposed our lack of planning for GP services and had left many patients at risk.

He reiterated an IMO call that the Government’s upcoming Strategic Review of the specialty must address significant workforce and funding problems as an urgent priority if the independent contractor model is to survive.