2026-01-22

10. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Health for an update on the development of the new primary care centre, PPC, at Gorey, County Wexford. [4437/26]

I ask the Minister for Health for an update on the long-promised, long-awaited and long-overdue primary care centre at Gorey, County Wexford.

I thank the Deputy for allowing me to update the House on this matter. Primary care centres form an important part of our health infrastructure and provide a single point of access to primary and community care services for individuals. As the Deputy is more than aware, the need for a new primary care centre in Gorey was identified as part of the overall primary care centre development programme. The development of that centre had previously been progressing under the operational lease model. A tender process was undertaken and a preferred provider was identified, as the Deputy is aware. Unfortunately, that preferred provider encountered difficulties regarding the viability of the project. The HSE subsequently took the very difficult decision to withdraw from the process and to readvertise this location. To inform the readvertisement of Gorey PCC, the HSE conducted a review of the current and future health service needs for the Gorey area. Following this, in June 2025, the HSE published stage 1 of the advertisement for this PCC location on the eTenders procurement platform. The expressions of interest received in stage 1 have since been evaluated. In quarter 4 of 2025, stage 2 of the advertisement, which seeks a priced offer, was published on eTenders. The HSE has advised that the tender returns arising from stage 2 of that advertisement will be evaluated in this quarter, as the Deputy is aware. I thank him for his commitment to ensuring the HSE is actively engaging to progress the further development of primary care centres throughout the country, which, of course, includes Gorey primary care centre.

The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, will recall that in my time in the Seanad, I raised this issue four times as a Commencement matter. I raised it as a Topical Issue in this House on 13 February last year, which was also answered by the Minister of State. She concluded her response on that occasion by saying: "I have no doubt I will be back in here again to answer about the Gorey primary care centre." The commitment from the HSE at that time, which she said was certain, was that the advertising on the eTenders procurement platform would happen in quarter 1 of last year. As the Minister stated this morning, the project was not advertised until 24 June 2025. The problem is that, time and again, the HSE, despite all its promises, does not meet any of its timelines. Will the Minister directly intervene to ensure this project progresses? When the former Minister, Stephen Donnelly, was in office, it was only through his intervention that certain decisions were secured. I am asking the Minister, please, to intervene. This is critical to the people of north Wexford.

The Deputy is well aware of the circumstances in which the previous process lapsed. We will continue to make sure it progresses at the appropriate pace. I will speak to the HSE about it. We will all be very pleased when we see a tender awarded and progress beginning on the site.

I recognise the Minister's commitment in this area. It is critical that we have a primary care centre that will include the local CDNT, have adequate facilities and include the planned additional CAMHS unit. My issue has been that when the project was conceived in 2010, everyone locally said the site identified by the HSE would not work. Finally, the HSE accepted that. When we had a meeting with the then Minister, Stephen Donnelly, his remark about the project was that even with all the time delays concerning the national children's hospital, the latter was conceived and will be delivered before we even see a shovel in the ground at the Gorey primary care centre. One of the biggest issues we have in north Wexford, because of the rapid growth in population, is access to GP and other healthcare services. I do not doubt the Minister's commitment but the problem we see, time and again, is the HSE missing deadlines.

I appreciate the absolute commitment to this issue by Deputy Byrne and the other Deputies from the area on behalf of the people of the region. I think we will end up with a good-sized primary care centre but we want to see progress on that and facilities expedited as much as possible. I certainly will continue to work with the Deputy and with the HSE to try to maintain the appropriate schedule to ensure the project progresses.