Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to respond to what I said. I understand she is not responsible for this particular area. It seems that this is a question of GP interest. If more interest can be found, can the people of Gort take it that the possibility of bringing a primary care centre to the town could be revisited very quickly? If that happens, what timeline would we be looking at? How could we go about doing that from now on? I know the people who use the service are very eager to see the facilities upgraded as much as possible. All of the services mentioned by the Minister of State should be provided in primary care centres, but that cannot be done in Gort at the moment because the facilities do not allow that to happen. The people of Gort and south Galway want a proper primary care centre to be developed in the town. Can the Minister of State set out the timeline that would apply to increasing the level of interest? How should we go about doing that? How long would it take to get a decision on the matter? Perhaps the Minister of State might bring the other issue I mentioned back to the Minister for Social Protection. I refer to the question of whether the room that is currently available in the health centre could be freed up. At least that would provide additional office space in advance of the delivery of a primary care centre for Gort.

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