Five GP practices paid over €1m each for medical card patients in 2020
According to the figures, 24 practices got over €800,000 each - with five getting at least €1 million.
Five GP practices got over €1 million each for treating medical card patients last year.
The total amount paid out under the scheme increased by a third in 2020.
Over 2,900 GPs across Ireland were paid a total of €788 million under the medical card scheme last year.
This includes practice support payments they received from the HSE.
According to the figures, 24 practices got over €800,000 each - with five getting at least €1 million.
The practice run by Dr Anas Mansour in northwest Dublin received the most money at nearly €1.3 million.
The total figure of €788 million is nearly €200 million more than 2019.
The HSE says last year's increase is partly down to GPs' response to the Covid pandemic, along with an expanded flu campaign and extra fees arising from the 2019 GP Agreement.
The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has called the annual publication of figures for payments a misleading exercise.
It said the publication is based on incomplete data and ignores the substantial costs incurred by GPs in running their practices.
Dr Denis McCauley said GPs are incurring significant extra costs through their involvement in the national vaccination rollout and through keeping their practices open throughout the pandemic.
"Year after year, we have to address the publication of these figures by the HSE which are presented without any context. GPs have been on the frontline since March last year and have helped protect patients nationwide in the face of extreme pressure," said Dr McCauley.
Monaghan GP Illona Duffy says the figures don't tell the whole story.
She said if being a GP was as lucrative as it sounds then there would be no issue retaining and replacing GPs.
"As we know, we are faced with a massive shortfall of General Practitioners in Ireland. We have one of the lowest rates of GPs per capita."
According to the IMO, almost 600 GPs are due to retire in the coming years and Dr Duffy says there is "no hope" of replacing them.
Donegal GP Ciarán Ó Fearraigh said GPs took on a lot of extra work for the HSE during the pandemic.
"Many private patients who would previously been charged for services were not charged during Covid and that was a HSE payment towards some of that," said Dr Ó Fearraigh.
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