John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I raise this issue out of sheer frustration. I was not a Member of the Thirty-first Dáil and was absent between 2011 and 2016 but the provision of primary care centres in the greater Clondalkin and Lucan areas has persisted in demonstrating a lack of progress. We are all agreed on the significance of primary care centres and, in response to various replies I have received, I understand the type of services they offer to communities such as nursing, counselling physiotherapy, social work, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, dieticians, chiropody, podiatry and so forth. In addition to treatment, there is also health education and health awareness, which reduce the burden on acute hospitals.

I am at a loss to understand why little or no progress has been made on three specific cases. The first is in Rowlagh, north Clondalkin. A reply to Deputy Micheál Martin in February 2013 states:

Rowlagh / North Clondalkin was one of the 35 primary care centres announced under the infrastructure stimulus package in July 2012. Approximately 20 will be offered ... The preparatory work for the primary care centre project which precedes signing of any PPP agreements is well underway. While it is not possible, at this time, to give start and completion dates for any of the individual 20 potential locations, the best estimate is that these primary care centres will be completed by late 2016.

As time went on and nothing was progressing, I pursued the issue with other questions. At the end of last year I was told it was intended to lodge planning permission in early 2016. This summer the response was that the HSE was finalising the development of the primary care centre with the Department of Education and Skills and that the agreement between the HSE and the Department of Education and Skills was subject to planning permission being granted for the development. Furthermore, the HSE had engaged a design team which had completed the preliminary design. As it stands today, there is no application for planning. Considering the fact that the Department of Education and Skills and the HSE are agencies of the State, it is appalling that since the announcement in 2012 so little progress has been made. A site is available, there is a clearly identified need but there has been no progress.

The first project is the worst case because the State has control over all elements. There are two further cases, however. One is in Clondalkin village in regard to which the reply to a question of mine was that the developer had advised the HSE that it intended to sell his interest as he was not in a position to complete the development. The HSE has consented to the sale, subject to the terms and conditions of the original agreement being met, while the developer is currently disposing of his interest in the site and it is currently on the market. When the sale of the site is concluded, the HSE will engage with new owners to establish a timeframe for the completion of the primary care centre development. Again, the HSE is sitting around passively and it may take a very long time, in the current climate, to dispose of it.

The third case is in Lucan. I was told that the proposed development of a primary care centre was via an operational lease. An Bord Pleanála refused permission for the lease and the preferred developer has been withdrawn. I was told that the HSE intended to explore options for the delivery of a primary care centre for Lucan. My concern for this and the Clondalkin project is that they were under a lease agreement, in partnership with developers, and the HSE is not being proactive with them in looking for a solution. It states that it intends to explore options but this work should be actively pursued. It is now six months since planning permission was refused by An Bord Pleanála.

I know this is not the Minister of State's area of responsibility but I have brought it to the floor of the House because, having pursued this with parliamentary question after parliamentary question, the wording of the response has been good but the action terrible in respect of all three cases.

See this speech in context