Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 111: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if she intends abandoning the primary care strategy unless funding will be received from the private sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35390/05]

Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 155: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the number of fully operational primary care centres that have been established under the 2001 primary care strategy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35373/05]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 179: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the number of primary care centres that have been established under the 2001 primary care strategy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35372/05]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 189: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if the primary health care strategy is still Government policy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35371/05]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 111, 155, 179 and 189 together.

The Government remains fully committed to the implementation of the principles in the primary care strategy. The strategy provides a template for the reform and development of primary care services over a period of ten to 15 years. The chief executive officer of the Health Service Executive has also emphasised the importance of developing our primary care services, both as the appropriate service for the delivery of the majority of people's health and social care needs and to complement services provided by our acute hospitals. This is an important priority of the executive which has my full endorsement.

Implementation of the primary care strategy will require sustained investment, over a period, to expand capacity and enable primary care to become the cornerstone of our health system. Three broad approaches will be taken to enable this to happen, namely, the substantial reorganisation of existing resources; further revenue and capital investment by the State; and a structured role for the private sector in the development of facilities and possibly also the delivery of integrated primary care services in line with national policy.

The deployment of additional resources in primary care must take place in the context of developing new ways of working and of reorganising the resources already in the system in line with the service model described in the strategy. In order to support the continued development of primary care services in line with these principles, the Government is providing an additional €16 million in 2006. The additional resources will be invested to ensure that they are focused on meaningful developments with maximum frontline impact. The extra funding will permit the appointment of some 300 additional frontline personnel to work alongside GPs in approximately 75 to 100 teams in the improved delivery of community primary care services, the establishment of an additional 22 GP training places and the further development of general practitioner out-of-hours co-operatives to enable an estimated 350,000 additional persons to benefit from such services.

Beginning in 2002, work was undertaken by the health boards, and continued by the HSE, to establish an initial group of ten primary care teams, with funding to enable existing staff resources within the public system to be augmented. These teams, which are already in operation, enable the primary care model to be demonstrated in action and also allow practical experience to be gained of the process involved in developing a primary care team and providing an expanded range of services in the community. The HSE will build on the experience gained in these ten projects as it develops team-based primary care services on a wider scale.