GP shortfall of 1,660 doctors predicted within six years 

Some want business supports offered to new GPs to encourage them to set up especially in rural areas in the same way the IDA supports start-ups.

A “substantial number of people” around the country cannot find a GP due to a shortage of practices, the Oireachtas Health Committee has been told.

The HSE has predicted therecould be a shortfall of 1,660 GPs within six years, according to Cork GP Diarmuid Quinlan, medical director with the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP).