A Monaghan councillor has called on the government to take action to increase the number of rural GPs in Ireland. More specifically, Paudge Connolly set down a motion at Monaghan County Council calling for the reinstatement of an education programme which was aimed at mature students who already have a third level qualification to re-train as doctors.
The government had introduced that scheme to attract older people who may have ties and commitments in Ireland in order to stem the tide of young qualified doctors emigrating to countries like Canada and Australia. The programme, which came with special grants and loan schemes was stopped recently.
Cllr Connolly's motion will be sent to the Department of Higher Education calling for the programme to be re-started in Ireland to develop more qualified doctors to fill rural GP roles. "The fact is we have seven GPs per 10,000 of the population when, in fact, we should have 12 GPs per 10,000," Cllr Connolly told Northern Sound, "It shows that we're operating at 45 per cent below the recommended level. In the past, the government recognised this and tried to address the issue by introducing a particular scheme, a scheme that was designed to attract a cohort of students who would be more likely to to stay or remain in Ireland after qualifying."
