Over 600 GPs from across the country will meet in Limerick today to discuss the future of the sector.
The Irish College of General Practitioners is holding its annual conference in-person for the first time since 2019.
The panel will feature experts from the UK and Australia, who will talk about their experiences of rural practice in particular.
Medical Director of the ICGP, Dr Diarmuid Quinlan, says the timing of today's conference is crucial:
"We are currently in the midst of a serious shortage of GPS. While it affects the entire country, it's especially obvious in rural areas where, when a small practice of maybe one or two or three GPS, when one of those GPS retires, it's increasingly difficult and nigh on impossible to find a replacement. Part of the issue is a pull towards people wanting to work in the urban areas., and in larger urban centres".
