Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)

I warmly welcome the extension from the HSE, which is greatly appreciated and will buy some much needed breathing space. The centre in Wicklow town seems to represent best practice. It is a public-private partnership. It brings in multidisciplinary teams and high-end diagnostics, and in time there may be a nursing home there. It will create an additional 50 to 60 jobs. I believe some 50 or 60 existing jobs will be moved. The health care benefit for the region is enormous. As the Minister and two Ministers of State will know, Wicklow is one of the most poorly served counties across a wide range of services, including mental health services, acute coverage and palliative care. The issue is that if the extension is not fixed in the next 12 weeks this development will be lost because of an amount of €271,000. I accept that it is speculation on my part but this appears to be the case. I met the Wicklow Town and District Chamber and I spoke to the developer yesterday. It seems the bank is trying to get out of lending the money. The gap was €700,000. The developer has said the general practitioners have agreed to purchase their areas. That brings the amount to €300,000. The bank indicated that it did not count that amount as part of the €700,000 and that it intended to lend the project less money. Indications that the bank is trying to find any excuse to exit are written all over this project. It must not be allowed to fail for €231,000. The planning levy from Wicklow County Council is €543,000. Potentially, we will lose a remarkably important centre from a health care and an economic perspective over an amount only half of what the county council seeks for permission to build.

I accept the Minister's point about the HSE not being able to extend it. However, will the Minister and his officials explore with the council any and all options, including equity in property or whatever it takes, to ensure that an amount of €271,000 does not stop this critical facility from proceeding?

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