Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Devlin for raising this very important issue. It is one he has been consistently raising and campaigning for on behalf of all of his constituents.

Of course, the HSE and Department of Health should, in any instance, focus on deprivation and demographics when it comes to the positioning of capital investment in terms of its overall allocation. As I mentioned previously, over the next five years, there will be an overall capital budget of over €9 billion. I think we will see a significant acceleration of investment in primary and community care right across our country. All of that is to manage the broader risks we have on demographics, ensure we can treat more people in the community, anchor more primary healthcare workers and embed more healthcare professionals in the community. That is the work that is ongoing in terms of the regional health areas.

A central objective in the programme for Government is to deliver increased levels of integrated healthcare and that is towards general practice, primary care and having a home first approach, as I have referenced. Integral to this is the development of primary care centres across the country, in local communities such as Loughlinstown and in the Deputy's own community. They form a critical part of our healthcare infrastructure, providing a single point of access to primary and community care services for individuals. Progress has been made during the past number years. One hundred and eighty primary care centres have opened across the country and a further seven are under construction.

Related to the Deputy's specific question, the HSE has confirmed the proposed delivery mechanism for a primary care centre in the instance he referenced was through the HSE primary care operational lease model. A tender process was undertaken and a preferred operator was selected. The HSE further advised that, unfortunately, the selected preferred operator then encountered difficulties in relation to the economic viability of the proposed project, which resulted in the collapse of that process. The HSE has confirmed that a service-led review is under way and that is to validate some of the questions the Deputy referenced. He spoke to the importance of age demographics being critical to managing the broader trends we see in communities across our country. There is also deprivation and we know education and healthcare are critical to enabling opportunities for people and also to mitigating a lot of the risks of intergenerational poverty. That is why deprivation should be a critical focus in the wider deployment of this capital funding.

The HSE has confirmed a review is under way and HSE capital estates is looking at the best location for the primary care centre and then the most appropriate method of delivery for expedience, value for money and delivering for the local community.

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