Róisín Garvey (Green Party)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as teacht isteach. I would love to have seen the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, here but I imagine that he has other things going on. I hope the Commencement matter falls on his ears. One could go on forever about the health issues throughout Ireland, especially the University Hospital Limerick, UHL, fiasco closer to home. Prevention is better than cure. If one can stop someone falling into a river, it saves one having to pull that person out of the river at the other end. To that end, this matter relates to Sláintecare and the plan to have primary healthcare centres built around towns and villages in order that people can go there in the first instance, instead of having to go straight to an accident and emergency department, because they cannot find a doctor or GP, or a health centre, that will take care of them.

The Minister has committed to me that he will increase the hours of the injury clinic in Ennis. That will be massive because the more services we provide outside of UHL, the more the pressure is taken off while we are waiting for one set of 96 beds to be built and then another set of 96 beds.However, we know many people are going to UHL because they have nowhere else to go beforehand.

To keep it to the point, will the Minister of State give me an update on the Sláintecare plan to build a primary care centre for the north Clare area in particular? Of course, everybody everywhere wants to know about this sort of thing but there is a major problem in the area and the local doctors are at crisis point. I have had meetings with them regarding capacity, and if a new primary care centre were built, it would enable them to expand their services. This is unique because most places do not have enough GPs. We actually have enough GPs. We just do not have the physical building space. It is not a staffing issue. It is an issue of a lack of space and of rooms for the doctors and their staff. Will the Minister of State give us a clear timeline, please? We are lucky in north Clare, and it is such an amazing place. Many people are happy to live there, including very good GPs, and they have come together to try to get this sorted. They do not care if they have to build it themselves or if one is going to be built. However, they need to know what is happening because in the meantime they are at maximum capacity. As a result people are suffering, they do not have access and they go to UHL, which is where we do not want them to go.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this question on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, who has asked me to thank Senator Garvey for raising this issue. He welcomes the opportunity to provide an update to the House on the development of primary care centres.

A central objective of the programme for Government is to deliver increased levels of integrated healthcare, with service delivery reoriented towards general practice, primary care and community-based services to enable a home first approach. Primary care centres play an essential in the delivery of that objective, and significant progress has been made on the delivery of these centre nationwide, with 165 opened to date and a further 14 currently under construction. In Mid West Community Healthcare, which covers counties Limerick, Clare and north Tipperary, 13 primary care centres are in operation. In County Clare specifically, there has been the recent addition of a new primary care centre on Station Road in Ennis. This centre became operational in quarter 4 of 2022. Furthermore, an additional two primary care centres are under construction in Mid West Community Healthcare. One, in Newcastle West, County Limerick, is due to become operational later this year, and one in Roscrea, County Tipperary, is due in early 2024. Primary care centres provide a range of primary care and community services throughout the mid-west, ranging from GP services to nursing, social work, allied health and disability services, dental, chiropody, ophthalmic, older person services, child health, and addiction counselling and treatment.

A number of additional primary care centres to be located in County Clare are at earlier stages of the planning and development process. The Department has been informed by the HSE that the planning process for a new primary care centre at Tulla Road, Ennis, is ongoing and it is hoped this will be concluded in the near future. Once the planning process has been concluded, the new primary care centre can progress through the next stages of development. It will then be possible to provide more detailed timelines for the delivery of that centre. In addition, a primary care centre in Ennistymon, County Clare, is at the early planning stages. The HSE has informed the Department that a number of submissions have been received for accommodation in Ennistymon via the operational lease model. Subject to securing HSE board approval in March 2023, an agreement for lease will be entered into. The selected developer will then progress to planning stages, and subject to a successful planning application with Clare County Council, the HSE estimates a development programme of works for the delivery of the proposed primary care centre of approximately 18 to 24 months thereafter. Both of these primary care centres will be a welcome addition to the people and healthcare workers of County Clare, and I assure the Senator that this Government remains committed to the provision of primary care centres in Country Clare, Mid West Community Healthcare, and throughout the country.

Róisín Garvey (Green Party)
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I thank the Minister of State. It is great that they have opened 165 primary care centres to date. That is brilliant. I am glad we have some timeline on Ennistymon because I know from Clare County Council that it has not received planning permission. However, the lease agreement is the first thing. I hope we can expedite it. If we are talking 18 to 24 months after the lease agreement and after the planning has been approved, we are talking about another four or five years, which does not take the pressure off of UHL today or tomorrow. However, it is definitely good to have some timeline on it and I will do my best to work with the council and whoever gets the contract to get it built as soon as possible.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The Minister would again like to thank the Senator for raising the issue. Primary care centres provide important primary care infrastructure. They can also support the delivery of integrated care by facilitating closer co-ordination and cooperation between health professionals from across different disciplines. They also provide a single point of access to services for the individual and can serve as a resource for the community more broadly by creating a focal point for health initiatives or providing community groups with a place to meet. It is for this reason the development of primary care centres is an important part of Sláintecare, and as part of continued Government investment in the development of primary care, there are now 165 primary care centres, as I mentioned earlier. Among these is the recently opened primary care centre in Ennis, and while further planned primary care centres for County Clare are at earlier stages of planning and development, no timeline for the opening of these can be provided at present. The Department and the HSE remain committed to the delivery of a strong primary care infrastructure in County Clare.