Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this very important issue which relates to the health centre in Gort in south Galway. I was invited to visit this health centre some weeks before Christmas by a number of patients using the facility. Before I visited the centre, they had told me about the facilities which they felt they were completely inadequate. As I said, I took the opportunity to visit the health centre some weeks before Christmas and found the building in quite a deplorable state. It is a building more from 1914 than a building suitable for 2014. The rooms in it are much too small and are completely inadequate. It simply cannot provide the level of care it aims to provide to the people for whom it aims to provide such care.

The staff are located in a small corner of the building and they do not even have a proper filing system. Given the Government is trying to direct more people towards the primary care system, this is certainly not an advertisement for it. The Gort health centre needs considerable upgrading. I understand Gort was on the list for primary care centres. Where was it on that list and why was it not selected? I do not know all about the centres throughout the country but this one should have been selected because it is in desperate need of upgrading.

There is a room available in the centre which was used by the Department of Social Protection. It has since left the centre to go to new offices in Loughrea in County Galway. If that facility was handed over by the Department of Social Protection to the HSE, it could kit out that room as a sort of stop-gap measure at least to facilitate the staff and give them a proper office to work in. It might even allow for an extra room where the staff could treat the patients who use the service.

I would like answers to some of these questions. It is unacceptable that there is not a new primary care centre at this stage because the health centre is in a deplorable state. The facilities there need to be upgraded as soon as possible. It is simply not adequate for the people of Gort and south Galway who use it.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The programme for Government sets out the Government's commitment to ensuring a better and more efficient health system - a single-tier health service that will deliver equal access to health care based on need and not on income.

In a developed primary care system, up to 95% of people's day-to-day health and social care needs can be met in the primary care setting. The key objective of the primary care strategy is to develop services in the community which will give people direct access to integrated multidisciplinary teams of general practitioners, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and workers in other health care disciplines. This is central to this Government's objective to deliver a high-quality, integrated and cost-effective health system.

A modern and well-equipped primary care infrastructure is central to the effective functioning of primary care teams. These teams enable multidisciplinary services to be delivered on a single site, provide a single point of access for users and encourage closer co-ordination between health providers. The development of infrastructure through a combination of public and private investment will facilitate the delivery of multidisciplinary primary health care. It represents a tangible refocusing of the health service to deliver care in the most appropriate and lowest cost setting. The intention to date has been that where appropriate, infrastructure will be provided by the private sector through negotiated lease agreements, and where service needs dictate, accommodation will be provided in primary care centres for mental health service delivery.

The HSE embarked on a prioritisation exercise for primary care centres in 2012. This dynamic exercise is constantly evolving to take account of changing circumstances, including the feasibility of implementation. It is the Government's intention to develop as many primary care centres as possible using one of the following methods: direct build by the HSE, leasing arrangements with the private sector or public private partnership. Considerable progress has been made in the delivery of primary care centres. Some 34 centres have opened since March 2011. Gort was one of the 35 potential locations for primary care centres to be developed by means of public private partnership projects, as announced in the July 2012 infrastructure stimulus package. Due to a lack of GP interest, however, this location is not progressing at this time. The HSE is exploring alternative options for this location. I am sure the matter can be revisited if the Deputy finds that the level of interest has increased.

Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to respond to what I said. I understand she is not responsible for this particular area. It seems that this is a question of GP interest. If more interest can be found, can the people of Gort take it that the possibility of bringing a primary care centre to the town could be revisited very quickly? If that happens, what timeline would we be looking at? How could we go about doing that from now on? I know the people who use the service are very eager to see the facilities upgraded as much as possible. All of the services mentioned by the Minister of State should be provided in primary care centres, but that cannot be done in Gort at the moment because the facilities do not allow that to happen. The people of Gort and south Galway want a proper primary care centre to be developed in the town. Can the Minister of State set out the timeline that would apply to increasing the level of interest? How should we go about doing that? How long would it take to get a decision on the matter? Perhaps the Minister of State might bring the other issue I mentioned back to the Minister for Social Protection. I refer to the question of whether the room that is currently available in the health centre could be freed up. At least that would provide additional office space in advance of the delivery of a primary care centre for Gort.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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While I might have some chance of having some influence in the Department of Health, I am not certain that I can extend my influence to the Department of Social Protection. Nevertheless, I will make sure the Deputy's contribution will reach the desk of the Minister for Social Protection. My experience of how primary care is developed is that the HSE writes to all the GPs in an area to ask if they are interested in participating in a collaborative primary care project. It is only when there is a sufficient level of buy-in that anything can be progressed. If enough people were to express interest in this process, I am sure the HSE would be happy to re-engage in trying to put a properly functioning primary care in place. It is essential for such primary care infrastructure to be available in areas where there is a significant distance between the population and the nearest general or local hospital. These services need to be provided as close as possible to where people live. We will ask the GPs whether there is renewed interest. If there is, I am sure the necessary negotiations can happen as quickly as possible.