Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt that these services are urgently needed. We welcome them, as do the residents. We have raised this matter over so many years and, at last, we are making serious progress. For how long does the HSE propose to lease the space in Omni Shopping Centre? I am curious to know the costs of both the rent and fitting out of the property. Do we have a timescale for when the centre will open fully? Will recruitment be a problem? I notice that no GP services are to be included. It is disappointing that they are not.

The issue for me and the residents is that we are renting instead of establishing a dedicated centre. By having a dedicated centre, we could expand services later, if needed. I am not saying what is being done is a waste of public money, because we are getting services we need, but there was a better way to proceed.

I am glad we are keeping the orthodontic centre in Larkhill and that it will be continually manned. It is needed there and is very important. Once again, there is plenty of land available from the local authorities. There are lands right across the area that are owned by the local authorities. I do not know why we did not consider options other than leasing. That is my complaint, in addition to the lack of GP services. However, we certainly welcome the announcement.

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