Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

Obviously the Deputy is ill informed, as there are three in each local health office. In Dublin we have nine local health offices, which would mean 27 in Dublin. I recently discussed the matter with Dr. Seán Maguire who is spearheading the project for the HSE. I believe he is familiar to the Deputy. Perhaps I can ask him to communicate to the Deputy the precise location of the discussions taking place in the Wexford area. The idea is to develop primary care services, which are not just about general practices, but also about supporting general practitioners with other therapists such as physiotherapists, chiropodists and occupational therapists in the community so people can have the range of services at that level to allow a primary care strategy to be rolled out across the country.

I do not have the details of the location of the 75 to 100 people. However, I am sure if the Deputy speaks with the representative of the HSE he can discover where and who they are. There are three in each local health office. I am not sure how many local health offices Wexford has and whether it is more than one. Dublin has nine.

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