I draw the Minister of State's attention to an escalating crisis in rural County Laois in the form of the chronic shortage of GPs and the lack of fully developed primary care services. We all accept that primary care is the front line of the health service. It is where early diagnoses happen, chronic conditions are managed and preventative care should take place, easing pressure on our overstretched hospitals. Across rural County Laois, the front line is weakening in communities such as Rathdowney, Mountrath, Ballyroan, Clonaslee, Ballinakill, Stradbally, Graiguecullen and Camross. The numbers are not good. The Irish Medical Organisation reports that 30% of GPs in County Laois are over aged 60. Many are due to retire within three to five years, but we have no real plan for succession. Nationally, we are facing a shortfall of more than 1,300 GPs by 2027, with rural counties like Laois hit hardest. In towns like Borris-in-Ossory, patients are now told to travel 20 km to 30 km just to see a doctor. This is not sustainable. The crisis impacts many, including older people, families with sick children and people managing long-term conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. The inducement scheme intended to attract GPs to rural areas has clearly failed to fill the gaps. It is not working and we must accept this fact. The impact of this situation is real and it is impacting real people. I will give the Minister of State a few examples. A rural GP practice in County Laois recently lost its second doctor to retirement. The HSE could not find a permanent replacement. Since then, there has been a reliance on rotating locums, with no continuity of care. I spoke recently with a mother in Durrow. Her son, who has asthma, waited 12 days for an appointment. An elderly woman in Rosenallis, living alone, missed a medication review because she simply could not be seen. These are not isolated incidents. They are daily challenges faced by thousands across rural County Laois. We were told that Sláintecare would bring care into the community, but that is not happening in County Laois. We have only one operational primary care centre in Portlaoise. In Mountrath, a new centre is supposed to have been finally allocated. I have been trying to establish timelines, but they are vague. Progress is very slow. A location has not been finalised in Rathdowney, despite the clear clinical need, community readiness and commitments given to me in correspondence with the Minister that it would have been done months ago. Meanwhile in Stradbally, services remain minimal and overstretched. Other key services such as physiotherapy, speech and language therapy and mental health services have wait times of more than 12 months. The Minister of State will be aware of that. I call on her to launch a targeted GP recruitment and retention plan for Laois, including proper relocation supports, administrative assistance and access to the rural pool locally; fast-track the development of the Mountrath primary care centre and immediately finalise, once and for all, a site in Rathdowney where the community has waited long enough; strengthen the roll-out of advanced nurse practitioners to ensure consistent care where GPs hours are limited; improve communication and transparency; and work with local communities and practitioners to develop clear local solutions.
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I thank the Minister of State for her response. However, it is important that I stress again that I am not asking for extras for County Laois. I am asking for the basics, that is, access to a doctor, reasonable wait times, and care delivered in our towns and villages. Rural Laois deserves the same healthcare rights as any other part of this country. People have paid into the system for their entire lives and they deserve more than just a waiting list and closed doors. To be fair to the Minister of State, I know she agrees with me. Time is not on our side. GPs are retiring now, not in five years. Locum cover is inconsistent. Rural patients are falling through the cracks in County Laois. The Minister of State referred to the situation in Rathdowney. I heard her say 2025, but I got the same answer in 2024. I am sorry to have to say that. It is in no way a criticism of the Minister of State for the response she has given me, because the Minister is not present, but I have heard all this before. No site has yet been confirmed in Rathdowney. That is evident in the Minister of State's response to me. The HSE's silence on progress is adding to the frustration of the community in Rathdowney. Mountrath has been allocated a primary care centre but, without a clear timeline for delivery or a staffing plan what is proposed is just a promise. I tried to find out if it was true or false that a site has been allocated but I could not get a definite answer, which means we are also left in limbo. I am not asking for County Laois to jump the queue but I cannot accept that rural communities in the county are being left behind. We need a clear roadmap with deadlines and funding commitments. We need boots on the ground: doctors, nurses and therapists who can deliver care now. This is about dignity. It is not about access or equity. I do not want the people of Laois to wait any longer for those services.
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We do not.
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That is what was said 12 months ago.
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