Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I thank Dr. Gibson, who is retiring from St. Mary's campus, and Dr. O'Halloran, who retired at the start of the year. Unfortunately, the response provided by the Minister of State gives very little hope for the people of Blarney or for those who attend St. Mary's campus. There is a severe lack of GP services in my constituency. People regularly contact me because they cannot get a GP, while those who have a GP are struggling to get appointments because GPs are overwhelmed. There are six primary care centres in Cork city but there is only one in my constituency of Cork North-Central. Some 131,341 people live in my constituency but there is only one primary care centre. That is completely unfair to the staff, the people of the area and the communities in which they live. Areas such as Blarney, Glanmire, Bishopstown, Ballyvolane, Mayfield and the Glen do not have primary care centres.

In Fine Gael's election manifesto, it promised 90 primary care centres. The Fine Gael spokesperson on health is based in my constituency but we have not seen a single primary care centre opened or even announced. Fine Gael promised to deliver primary care centres but that has not happened. The centre in Blarney has a planning issue but what contingency plan was there to deliver another such centre in the town? I spoke to Dr. O'Halloran, who was working in Blarney. She retired because the primary care centre was not delivered and she could not get the HSE to support her with holidays or if she was sick. The Minister of State made the point that GPs are private practitioners. They need support, however, because many of them cannot keep going on their own. She referred to the challenges and stated that the HSE will advertise Dr. Gibson's GP service on 1 May. Months ago, Dr. Gibson told the HSE he was leaving. I contacted the HSE weeks ago, asking it to advertise the position so that the GP service could be kept there. Why is the HSE being evasive and not advertising the positions? Why is it not being proactive? Is there an alternative reason for this? We need local GP services in Blarney and on the St. Mary's campus in Gurranabraher.

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