Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Tá ábhar an-tábhachtach le hardú agam ar Thosú an tSeanaid inniu. I have a very important matter to raise in the Commencement debate. It goes to the heart of the failure of the Government's primary health care strategy. The Government has been slowly opening a number of primary health care centres throughout the country.Full and integrated primary health care is essential, not just for curing and treating people, but for solving the hospital crisis. Too many people are going to hospitals when they could easily be treated in primary health care centres.

I was pleased that pressure was applied in the Seanad by me and in the Dáil and locally by my colleagues to ensure that the centre in Kells was delivered. It has been built and is about to open, but a number of issues have arisen, one of which is that of parking charges. The centre is situated far outside the town and there is no issue with parking in the area except at the health care centre. The only reason one might go to the building is to attend the centre. One cannot nip out to the shops beside it because there are none.

It has been suggested locally that there will be a charge of €4 to enter or exit the car park. For someone driving from Kells town to the centre, €4 is a great deal of money. Is there a policy on this matter at national level? It makes doctors' practices unattractive, as parking can be found at considerably cheaper rates or for no cost at all in the town centre. The charge goes against the strategy and should not happen. I hope that the Minister of State will tell me that it will not happen. It is not right. There have been too many controversies about parking charges at hospitals and the inconvenience these pose. Generally speaking, hospitals are one-off events for most people whereas attending a primary care centre is a regular event, in particular for many people with chronic diseases. They attend centres to get appropriate treatments at an early stage in order to stay out of hospital. Why are parking charges being tolerated and will the Minister of State stop their imposition?