Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I could not agree with the Deputy more. The intention was to do this in Maynooth. Several site locations for the Maynooth area have been explored since 2015 within HSE and State capital, but with no success. The important point is that the HSE applied for planning permission to develop a primary care centre on the site of the current health centre in Maynooth and it was not approved. The HSE had to seek planning permission to turn a health centre into a health centre, and it was not approved. I have a serious commitment to developing health infrastructure in this country. I want to deliver the services that I believe Maynooth and everywhere else needs. I am serious about the infrastructure guidelines and how we have to go about doing things. It will hamper the delivery. I am not trying criticise planners or their decisions - I appreciate that every application is different - but there was a need for a site in Maynooth, planning permission was applied for to turn a health centre into a health centre and now we have to do it in Leixlip.

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