Colm Brophy
Question:496. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Minister for Health the estimated cost of increasing GP training places by 25 places; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45887/24]
View answerThursday, 7 November 2024
Questions (496)
Written answers
The annual intake of doctors into the GP training programme has been increased by 80% over the last 5 years. I2023, there were 286 new entrants to GP training, and 350 places for new entrants were made available this year. The ICGP, which is responsible for training GPs, stated that 968 applications were received for 2023, while 1,311 applications were received for this year.
The annual year one cost of a doctor on the GP training programme is approximately €110,000, accordingly the cost of increasing the number of GP training places by a further 25 places to 375 places would be approximately €2.75 million.
It is important to note that capacity to increase the number of GP trainees must be built through the health service, as for the first two years of training GP trainees rotate through a variety of hospital specialities. An increase in GP trainers may also be required, which would involve an additional costs to be determined. Expanding the number of places available for GP trainees may also carry other additional costs which cannot be quantified at this time.