I propose to take Questions Nos. 1430 and 1529 together.
GP out of hours co-operatives are private organisations. The HSE provides significant funding to support out of hours co-operative services through service level agreements. The HSE maintains contact with all out of hours service providers.
In preparation for the increased demand for general practitioner services over the winter period, the HSE Winter Plan 2022/23 provides an additional €10 million in funding to support general practice including GP out-of-hours services. Additional GP supports have been made available to enable GPs to extend existing clinics or run additional clinics practices during weekday evenings and Saturday mornings.
The funding for GP out of hours service providers through a grant arrangement, which was introduced from March 2020, has been increased and additional funding is being provided to co-operatives to enable them to roster additional doctors, local GPs and locum doctors, in out of hour treatment centres from 6pm to 10pm. This will allow more patients to be seen by GP out of hours co-operatives, helping reduce the number of persons attending Emergency Departments.