Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State and thank her for the work she has done with nursing homes in her portfolio of older people. It is such a relief for people at the moment to be able to visit friends and neighbours in nursing homes. I know that from my own experience. I thank the Minister of State and all the people working in that sector.

My question relates to the proposed primary care centre in Fethard, County Tipperary. Fethard has been identified by the HSE as the preferred location for the development of a primary care centre. A site directly adjacent to Fethard town park has been scoped and approved by the proposed primary care centre developer. This development is greatly welcomed as it will allow for increased economies of scale and the creation of a co-located campus with mutual health and well-being benefits for all. However, there seems to be a lack of progress lately. The HSE has been quite slow in progressing primary care centres in the south east, which includes Fethard. I understand that all works have been slowed and bogged down because of Covid but can the Minister of State give assurances that this is still a priority for the Department, and for her in particular? Primary care centres play a vital role in rural areas and towns. Fethard is a prime example of an area and hinterland that would benefit greatly from having a primary care centre. The Minister of State is based not far from the area, so she knows Fethard is a small town with a population of approximately 1,500, with a good hinterland. Successful work has been done on a range of issues in the town. A primary school has been extended to add two new classrooms, the secondary school has a large extension of 14 new rooms, so we now have almost a new school beside the existing one, and funding of €2.6 million was secured from the rural regeneration fund for Fethard town park. All of these developments are in the same part of the town. It is in a perfect area, which incorporates education, well-being and sport. The jewel in the crown, the development that would finish the whole project, is the primary care centre.

There is so much work going on in Fethard. I do not know of any other area, in County Tipperary or beyond, where so many community groups have been involved in the projects. They include Holy Trinity National School, the town's secondary school and community playschool, Fethard GAA and rugby clubs, the scout group and the community council. Some 27 groups have come together to work with Tipperary County Council, the Cashel and Emly diocese and Coolmore to build a centre of excellence for well-being, sport, community and education and everything is progressing nicely.

We have had some difficult number for building and progressing projects, which is of course understandable. However, things are starting to move now on the 23-acre site, which includes the secondary school, primary school and town park. As such, some information on progress for the primary care centre would be the icing on the cake for a fantastic community of people who give back an awful lot to their area and, most important, work together for the benefit of the region. Any indication the Minister of State could give in this regard would be greatly appreciated.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Ahearn for raising this issue. He described a vibrant community supported by many community groups and also the importance of the new proposed primary care centre for Fethard, County Tipperary. I welcome the opportunity to provide an update to the House.

The ongoing development of both community and primary care is the core of the Sláintecare vision. This Government is committed to ensuring people are provided with the care they need as close to home as possible and have access to the wide possible range of health and social care services within their community. In support of this national goal, south east community healthcare is working to develop primary care centres across the region. In February 2019, a schedule setting out the next stage of primary care development was drafted and priority sites in the south-east were identified.

One of the five priority sites was the area of Slieve Ardagh and west County Tipperary which includes, as the Senator mentioned, Fethard, Killenaule, Gortnahoe and Ballingarry. As the area is rural, with a number of small towns and villages, it was considered from both an operational and HSE estates perspective that the development of the new primary care centre should be located centrally insofar as is possible. Following consultations, Fethard was agreed as the proposed site for the new centre. Expressions of interest were subsequently advertised in November 2019 and the process of engaging with developers commenced. I understand two developers have expressed an interest and that local GPs have also signed up in support of the Fethard centre. It is the intention that some existing GP practices will be aligned with the Fethard primary care centre, while GP practices in other local towns and villages will be maintained.

I am pleased to be able to advise the Senator that HSE estates is reviewing the schedule of accommodation and expects to be in a position to issue relevant documentation to developers before the end of May. This will allow developers to finalise the design and bring the opening of the centre one step closer. This is a very welcome development as the centre will bring vital services to the Slieve Ardagh and west County Tipperary area, providing modern, purpose-built accommodation and acting as a single point of access for health and social care delivery. The primary care team will include GPs working alongside public health nurses and other healthcare professionals, including occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists.This team will also link in with the wider community network services, including dental care and hearing specialists, among others. The Government is committed to continued investment in the development of primary care centres nationwide, in both urban and rural areas. These facilities have a crucial role to play in enhancing and expanding capacity in the primary care sector to deliver high quality, integrated care to people in their own communities. I am sure the centre in Fethard will come to be seen as a valued community asset.

Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her detailed response. I thank her, in particular, for saying that relevant documentation to developers will be issued before the end of May. That takes us one step closer and it is the major step towards getting everything moving. I thank the Minister of State for her engagement and work on this matter, and her help in pushing it along. There are many things going on in the Minister of State's Department, including the cybersecurity issue we heard about last week and, with that in mind, I thank her for prioritising primary care centres. As she said, the Government is committed to prioritising primary care. I can see that in Cahir. A primary care centre opened in Cahir approximately two or three months before the onset of Covid-19. GPs and public health nurses in that primary care centre do not know where they would have been had they been in their old facility, nor how they would have coped. The comparison between the challenges they face and the challenges they would have faced if they were not in a primary care centre is like comparing chalk and cheese. It is massive for Fethard and the surrounding areas that they will have a primary care centre in the future. I thank the Minister of State again for her work and for her commitment that the next stage will happen at the end of May.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I again thank the Senator for raising this matter I understand the importance of the development of such facilities to local people in communities such as Slieveardagh. As I have said, the development of primary care centres is an important part of the Sláintecare vision. These facilities provide a single point of access to health services and offer a means of supporting people to live independently in their own communities for as long as possible. That is what I aspire to every day - the right care in the right place at the right time, including the correct wrap-around supports for older people so they do not have to go to an acute hospital for support or that their entry into a nursing home may be delayed because they can get the appropriate supports at home.

Good progress continues to be made in the development and roll-out of primary care centres across the country. Some 142 are now operational, with 14 of them opening last year, despite the challenges posed by Covid. A further 15 are at different stages of the construction or equipping process and are expected to open in 2021, with a pipeline of projects to follow in later years. As he said, the Senator is aware that Tipperary has benefited from investment with four primary care centres in Tipperary Town, Carrick-on-Suir, Cashel and Cahir. We can all agree that these facilities have a key role to play. I reiterate that relevant documentation to developers will be issued before the end of May. I thank the Senator for his interest in the matter.