Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. The Minister of State always comes into this House with good intention and he will be delivering an answer on behalf of the HSE. As the Minister of State knows, the north Wexford area is one of the fastest growing in the country when it comes to population and that has meant there has been a lot of pressure on healthcare. There was a commitment by the HSE to develop a primary care centre there and excellent medical services are provided by the GPs in the Gorey and north Wexford area but they are under pressure because the population continues to expand. There was a clear commitment given that we would have a primary care centre and a community healthcare network put in place and indications were given 12 months ago that this was all on track and proceeding apace, that a community intervention team was being appointed and so on. There does not seem to have been much progress in the past 12 months. At the time we were told that a developer had been appointed, that plans would be laid out and that construction would take 12, 14 or 15 months. That was the answer 12 months ago and I asked for a meeting with the HSE about a month ago and followed up with emails. I did not get a response but on tabling this Commencement matter, I got an email response last night, which gave me much the same answer I was given 12 months ago. I was told that agreement has been reached for lease and construction work to commence on site and that the construction programme will take approximately 12 to 14 months but that a detailed programme would be issued by the developer prior to the commencement of work. If it will take 12 to 14 months I want to know when the developer will be on site. When is the end of that 12 to 14 months programme when we will see the primary care centre built?

In 2014, the HSE decided to close the health centre down the road in Camolin. That was greeted by a lot of annoyance from residents in the Camolin area and there were discussions with Wexford County Council about the council possibly acquiring it. The council assessed it and decided not to proceed with acquiring it at that stage. At the time, in 2018, my colleague, Councillor Joe Sullivan, raised this issue at the regional health forum in Cork and he was told that this centre would be offered to various agencies but that if the various agencies did not want it then it would go on the open market.In 2018, the HSE stated it was in the process of disposing of the property. In the email I received from the HSE yesterday in response to my queries, it gave the same answer it gave in 2018, stating it will talk to the various agencies to see if they are interested but if they are not, it will put it on the open market and dispose of it. That is basically the same answer, four years later. This is something others have been raising as well, such as Councillor Donal Kenny and Jack Redmond of the local community development association in Camolin, because they want to make use of the facility. For eight years the HSE has sat on a building that is in very good nick in the heart of Camolin village and done nothing about it and we are getting the exact same answer we got in 2018 as to what it is going to do with the property. I hope the Minister of State can use his good offices to advance the challenge with regard to both the Gorey primary care centre and the Camolin HSE building.