The Health Minister has highlighted Galway as one of several areas at risk of having GP care blackspots.
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill is publishing a paper on GP supply and demand, looking at expected retirement numbers and population.
According to the Irish Times, it highlights how some areas do not have enough GPs to meet demographic pressures.
The paper pinpoints that areas with a high concentration of single GP practices are most at risk due to retirements.
That includes west Galway, Mayo, west Donegal, and parts of Clare, Limerick, Tipperary, Wexford and Leitrim.
The paper highlights how that, along with population growth, makes these an 'obvious target' for facilitating and incentivising succession planning.
It also outlines that sufficient numbers of GPs are being trained to replenish numbers, but geography may still prove a challenge.
