Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The need for the provision of properly resourced healthcare at community level is clear. The ongoing crisis in our hospitals emphasises the importance of care being available to people at a community level to help relieve pressure on the emergency departments. Part of the plan to strengthen community care is the concept of primary care centres which would support the provision of a range of services in the local community. The roll-out of primary care centres in Galway west has been painfully slow. In 2014, the HSE advertised for expressions of interest for a primary care centre site in Moycullen. It opened nine years later, in 2023. In 2019, the HSE advertised for expressions of interest for primary care centres in Oughterard agus An Spidéal. I am informed that process had to be reset and there will be a new call shortly. There is currently no plan to develop badly needed primary care centres farther west in Connemara. The consistent failure to invest in primary and community care in a timely manner places a major burden on our hospital system. The lack of progress in developing the primary care centres in An Spidéal and Oughterard is disappointing and frustrating. More worryingly, the primary care centres mapped in the accommodation needs assessment for primary care teams 2011, which proposed a primary care centre for south Connemara to cover An Cheathrú Rua agus Ceantar na nOileán, are not currently on the list to be developed.

At a time when the health system is in crisis, we need to be developing and supporting more community-level health services in order that people are supported to stay living in their own homes and communities. These services have a real impact on people's lives. Although the opening of the primary care centre in Moycullen is welcome, the absence of progress in An Spidéal is disappointing. Most concerning of all is that there is no plan to develop the required primary care centres for the communities further west in Connemara.

I take this opportunity to raise the issue of Clifden hospital. I know the Minister of State is aware of the importance of the hospital and how far Clifden is from Galway city. Realistically, it takes between an hour and a half and two hours to travel from Clifden to the city. The Minister of State will be aware there was another public meeting in Clifden last week on the need to keep Clifden hospital open. The meeting was very well attended because the issue is important to local people. When the issue first came to light a year and a half ago, we were told there was not demand for Clifden hospital. Of course, the community told us a very different story. They told us how important the hospital is for the local community. Local doctors told us how important the hospital is. We were told the issues related to an industrial dispute but, again, the community and the people working there told us that was not the case. We were then told it was due to a recruitment issue. The Minister of State is aware of the importance of the hospital to the people of Clifden and Galway. We must do everything in our power not only to ensure the hospital remains open, but to heed the clear call from that public meeting to expand services at the hospital. The Minister of State is aware of the importance of this issue. We must do everything in our power to keep the hospital open.

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