Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend Senator Conway on raising the issue of haemochromatosis. I have haemochromatosis and I am very aware of the importance of the screening strategy, given so many people are impacted by that disease.

The issue I want to raise concerns the long-running and ongoing saga of the construction of the primary care centre in Gorey, which I have raised on a number of occasions in the House. The primary care centre was first conceived in 2010 or 2011 and planning permission for a particular proposed primary care centre was agreed in August 2018, even though there were specific problems with the site. By May 2021, nothing had happened and Gorey did not see its primary centre, so I raised it as a Commencement matter in the House, having had extensive correspondence with the Department. I was told at the time that everything was proceeding apace, that a developer had appointed a contractor and that construction would be commencing within 12 months. In May 2022, following a back-and-forth of correspondence and with no construction happening, I again raised it as a Commencement matter in the House with the Minister of State's predecessor, Deputy Feighan. Essentially, we got a copy-and-paste answer of what we were told 12 months previously, which was that construction would proceed within 12 months, even though we knew there were ongoing problems with car parking at the particular location indicated. In November 2022, with no further progress, I raised it again as a Commencement matter. I was assured by the HSE in correspondence at the time that this was being treated as a priority.

In early November 2023, I arranged for a meeting between HSE officials, the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and me around this issue and to express the frustration of the people in the north Wexford area that the primary care centre project had not moved. The Minister was quite surprised at how long the process was taking but we were reassured at that meeting and the word used was that “imminent” action would be taken. I did not hear anything from the HSE for six weeks so I do not know if six weeks is categorised as “imminent” in the HSE. Nonetheless, in mid-December 2023, I had to raise the issue again in the House and I was told there were still problems around car parking issues at the site, even though people in the locality had indicated this was going to be a problem right back when the planning happened.

In May of this year, the HSE finally relented, accepted what people in the locality had been saying, namely, that the current site is not suitable, and indicated it would again advertise for expressions of interest for a new site.I was told that would happen in quarter 3 or quarter 4 of this year at the latest. As the Minister of State will be aware, quarter 3 has ended. We are into quarter 4, and I still cannot get answers from the HSE as to why this has not happened. My frustration is now giving way to anger because I am not convinced that HSE estates is convinced about the importance of this facility for the interest of patients in the area. Others in the area, particularly Councillor Donal Kenny, have also been regularly raising this issue. The centre is to include a primary care centre but also facilities for a new child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, unit and children's disability network team, CDNT, unit. There seems to be no priority given to this within HSE estates. Why should I have confidence in HSE estates to be able to deliver this facility?