Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ellis for giving me the opportunity to update the House on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, who is unfortunately unavailable.

One of the objectives of the programme for Government is to deliver increased levels of integrated health care with service delivery reoriented towards general practice, primary care and community-based services to enable a home first approach. Primary care centres play an essential role in the delivery of that objective and significant progress has been made in the delivery of these centres nationally. These centres support the delivery of integrated care by facilitating closer co-ordination and co-operation between health professionals from across different disciplines. They also provide a single point of access to services for the individual and can serve as a resource more broadly for the community.

There are currently 167 primary care centres in operation throughout the country, with a further 13 under construction. The Finglas primary care centre will be located on a block of land between Cappagh Road, Cardiffsbridge Road, Wellmount Avenue and Fergal’s Lane. These lands offer an opportunity to provide and enhance facilities for the local community in Finglas. The vision for the whole site is to provide a new church and parish centre, housing provision, new sporting facilities for the CDETB, local schools and, of course, the new primary care centre.

The stakeholders involved have been the Dublin archdiocese, Dublin City Council, the HSE, the CDETB, local schools and the public. Fruitful stakeholder engagement has led to agreements between Dublin City Council, the HSE and CDETB on the preferred option for all parties in regard to access and land ownership.

Finglas has long been identified as a priority location for the development of a primary care centre due to the population level, care requirements for the community and the HSE Sláintecare programme, which will provide care for patients closer to their homes. Finglas primary care centre is included in the capital programme for 2023. A design team has been engaged for the project. The preliminary design stage 1 report is expected to be completed by end of quarter 2 this year. The legal process to transfer the land is in progress and the HSE is engaging with all parties to complete the necessary property transactions. It is anticipated this process will be concluded in the second half of 2023, which will facilitate further progress through design and planning stages of the project, including the submission of the planning application.

On completion of the legal process to transfer the land, the HSE will be able to give a further update on the status of the primary care centre in Finglas. More than 50,000 people will be serviced by this primary care centre. The site’s location will provide for more easily accessible pathways to care for people currently residing in the area and new residents who will move into the proposed housing development.

See this speech in context