*The average PCRS payment for Clare GPs was €351,998.
63 Clare GP practices last year received a total of €22.17m in Primary Care Re-imbursement Service (PCRS) payments from the HSE as overall PCRS payments to GPs nationally reached almost €1bn in 2025.
The 2025 PCRS Statistical Analysis of Claims and Payments reports show that GPs nationally received a record payout from the PCRS of €985.9m which was a four percent increase on the €949.23m paid out in 2024.
Figures for Co Clare show that the GP practice to receive the highest amount was Dr Claire McMahon who received €1.04m with all GP practice totals including a practice support grant.
The PCRS is responsible for reimbursing GPs, Dentists, Pharmacists, Optometrists/Ophthalmologists and other contractors who provide free or reduced-cost services to the public across a range of primary care schemes including the general medical card scheme.
Figures released separately by the HSE in response to a Freedom of Information request show that the other Clare GPs to feature in the top five PCRS payments in 2025 were Dr Yvonne Williams received €841,175; Dr Martin Fitzgerald received €747,202; Dr Maire Finn received €739,602 and Dr Mary E O’Sullivan received €638,989.
Outside of the top five GP practices, a further three practices received in excess of €600,000 while a further ten received between €500,000 and €600,000.
The average PCRS payment for 2025 for the 63 Clare based GPs totals €351,998.
In a statement accompanying the GP figures a spokeswoman for the HSE cautioned that in some cases, the gross provided, which is attached to the name of a particular GP “in fact covers payment made to that GP in respect of a number of GPs and/or other staff working in that particular GP practice and should therefore be seen as income of that practice rather than the personal income of the named individual GP”.
A spokesman for the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) said, “The annual publication of figures for payments made to GPs once again regrettably fails to provide context around the fact that these figures do not represent salaries for GPs but rather fees associated with both providing the medical services to patients and the exorbitant, and rising, costs associated with running a medical practice”.
He said, “Taken in isolation, the figures imply that GPs are directly receiving much more than they actually are, in reality, they represent all the fees paid to deliver a service to patients including all employment costs, insurance, premises costs e.g. rent, and IT and other essential business overheads”.
The spokesman said, “The increase in fees is driven by additional patients and greater complexity of care for some patients as the payments made by the State to GPs for services has not increased for over three years despite the fact that costs are rising sharply due to the current inflationary environment which is affecting all aspects of service delivery”.
He pointed out, “As such, these figures do not accurately explain the true cost of providing GP services. It is particularly disappointing that names and locations of practices are made available for publication given this complete lack of context which paints an unrealistic picture of GP fees and no recognition of cost of providing the service or the patient profile of the practice”.
He said that the report for 2025 “saw an increase in eligible GMS patient numbers of 56,000 on the previous year, highlighting significantly increased demand for GPs and associated complexity of care, particularly for those patients on hospital waiting lists”.
He said, “At the same time, the number of GPs participating in the GMS is fairly static, which primarily reflects the onerous costs of both establishing a practice, and expanding an existing one with more GPs”.
The IMO spokesman said, “The State has not invested adequately in GP infrastructure and needs to act urgently to both enable established practices to take on more GPs and also support newly qualified GPs with dedicated supports to help them set up new practices”.
