Mr. Paul Reid:

I thank the Deputy. I do not disagree with her sentiment or direction of travel in terms of the role of primary care centres and Sláintecare-proofing them. As we were outlining just last week, of the 340 we have 127 in place, there is another 77 in progress and 30 are committed in our capital plan. What we want to do now is exactly as the Deputy outlined.

We are now looking forward to a new way of treatment and care to which there are various elements, as I touched on earlier. The first element is GPs, the second is pharmacies, and the third is the primary care centres, both in terms of entry points and egress points. In my visits to many such centres around the country, I have seen various levels of capability and resourcing. Centres that have a GP on-site, such as the one I visited last week in Waterford, are very successful. Young children and those seeking paediatric services come in to them as well, which takes huge pressure off the acute settings. The centres are very successful when they have the skills and resources in place. There are other that are fine centres but which do not have the skills, resources, and diagnostics needed to equip them. As we look forward to Sláintecare and talk about new pathways, I am very committed that the investment in the next 77 centres and the infrastructure of the current 127 must be Sláintecare-proofed. In terms of the existing centres, the first element is the €10 million investment committed to in our service plan, as part of the budget, which will rise to €60 million. That will give us the capacity for 1,000 extra resources on the community side, of which a significant proportion must be in our primary care centres.