John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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184. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the roll-out of primary health care centres around the country; and if he will clarify which centres have been completed and are operational, which are at planning stage, and which have not moved on to the planning stage. [4423/14]

John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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185. To ask the Minister for Health if his Department is planning a further roll-out of primary care centres following the completion of the current programme. [4424/14]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 184 and 185 together.

The development of primary care is central to the Government's objective to deliver a high quality, integrated and cost effective health care system. Supporting infrastructure, procured through a combination of public and private investment, will facilitate the delivery of multi-disciplinary primary health care. The location prioritisation exercise initiated by the HSE in 2012 is a dynamic process, constantly evolving to take account of changing circumstances including the feasibility of implementation using the following delivery mechanisms:

- direct/own-build (by HSE);

- by way of the operational lease with the private sector; or

- through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) project.

In addition to the infrastructure already in place thirty four primary care centres have been delivered between March 2011 and December 2013. These locations are set out in the following table. The Heath Service National Service Plan 2014 (Appendix 5 Capital Infrastructure Pages 68, 69) advises that an additional 21 primary care centres are expected to open over 2014/Q12015; 19 by way of operational lease and two by direct/own-build. Significant progress has been achieved using the operational lease mechanism. The HSE continues to work with the private sector to deliver primary care centres by means of operational lease. In addition, a further 13 are to be delivered by direct/own-build. These are St Mary's Orthopaedic Hospital campus, Cork city; Finglas; Grangegorman; Monaghan town; Ballinamore; Sligo town; Manorhamilton; Erris; Ballyshannon; Edgesworthtown; Tullow/Rathvilly/Hacketstown; Loughrea and Dungloe.

In relation to the potential Primary Care Centres to be delivered under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Project, the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) published a Prior Information Notice (PIN) on Friday 15th November 2013 in the Official Journal of the European Union ("OJEU") through the eTenders Public Procurement portal which can be viewed on the www.etenders.gov.ie website. Of the 35 primary care centre locations announced under the Infrastructure Stimulus Package in July 2012, 15 locations have been identified as being suitable for the PPP model. These are Ballymote; Boyle; Westport; Claremorris; Tuam; Limerick City; Dungarvan; Carrick-on-Suir; Wexford Town; Waterford City; Kilcock; Knocklyon/Rathfarnham; Crumlin/Drimnagh; Coolock/Darndale; and Summerhill, north inner city Dublin. In addition, the HSE has progressed Ballinrobe, which was not one of the original 35, as a suitable substitute.

By year end 2013 the HSE had lodged 14 planning applications, details of which will be available on the relevant planning websites. The submission of Limerick City and Ballinrobe planning applications are to follow as soon as possible. It is expected that 10-14 sites (indicative number 12 based on affordability) from the above list will be delivered as part of a single PPP contract with the remaining centres to be delivered by the HSE using other procurement means. As with all other capital projects the further expansion of the primary care infrastructure programme (including locations that have not moved to planning stage) must be considered within the overall capital envelope available to the health service.

Your question has been referred to the HSE for direct reply in relation to following:

- The schedule of suitable primary care infrastructure delivered before March 2011; and

- Locations at planning stage (other than the locations set out above).