The cost of setting up a general practice is causing newly qualified GPs to leave the country.
Up to 30 per cent of Irish-trained GPs emigrate to countries such as the UK and Australia every year at a cost of €30,000 to the taxpayer per student per year – according to a report in the Irish Mail on Sunday.
Chair of the IMO GP Committee, Dr Tadhg Crowley, says setting up a practice in rural areas is particularly difficult.
