Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I fully understand the frustration and so does the Minister. It is one of the issues encountered. I refer to where a developer has agreed to provide a facility but cannot then proceed. There is frustration because of legal difficulties that may arise. The Minister fully recognises the frustration of the people in the local area who have been awaiting the completion of this centre for some time. As was noted, the HSE is engaging with the developer to address the barriers to moving forward with the completion of this primary care centre. Should the preferred provider be unable to proceed, the HSE has reassured the Minister that it will be exploring all options to deliver a new primary care centre for the area. The Minister wishes to assure the Deputy that both he and officials in the Department are actively engaging with the HSE to progress the completion of Ballyhaunis primary care centre, as well as further development of primary care centres throughout the country.

I fully understand this frustration. I have come across it myself in other areas I have been in. The difficulty here appears to be that progress has not been made in the time the Deputy is talking about, from 2021 to date. It is obviously something that now needs to be prioritised. I will follow this matter up myself for the Deputy as well because I do understand there are sometimes legal technicalities that arise and there may be a stand-off between various parties involved. This means it is sometimes difficult to resolve these issues. I will, therefore, see what further information I can get for the Deputy concerning this issue.

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