Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The development of primary care centres supports the shift from acute care to primary care. This is a key priority for the Government and accords with the vision of a reformed health service set out in the Sláintecare cross-party report. These modern facilities provide a setting in which a wide range of health professionals can deliver better care, closer to people's homes in their local communities. The centres are also a key enabler of care delivery on an interdisciplinary basis. When I visit them I see health care professionals working in a multidisciplinary capacity.

There are currently 120 primary care centres operational throughout the country, 12 of which opened in 2018. A further seven are expected to open before the end of the year while another 65 centres are either being developed or in the planning process. I am arranging to provide the Deputy with the details in tabular format.

Data on the number of staff working in individual centres are not compiled centrally by the HSE. There is a good reason for this. The Deputy and I have visited primary care centres. The staff work across centres and in communities and are not employees of an individual primary care centre. I have asked the HSE to provide what information is possible to Deputy O'Reilly. I can assure her that the number of staff working in primary care is increasing quite significantly. This year, for example, we have provided additional funding for 20 additional psychology posts and 114 additional psychologists in the area of responsibility of the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly. Some €4 million has been provided for 83 additional full-time speech and language therapists to come on stream. There will be 40 additional occupational therapists working in our community this year. I can assure the Deputy that we are increasing the number of staff.

I was in a primary care centre in Celbridge, County Kildare, recently. It is being opened alongside a new community intervention team and podiatrist. When I opened a new primary care centre in Carnew, a new wound management clinic was located there. As we open primary care centres, we are not just opening new shiny buildings. Rather, we are looking at the additional services which can be provided, as well as people working on a multidisciplinary basis. The number of staff working in primary care this year has increased on last year, which in turn increased on the year before. It will continue to increase as we reinvest in our health services.

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