Terence Flanagan
Question:153. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health the position regarding the construction of Edenmore primary health care centre in Dublin 5; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18114/14]
View answerWednesday, 16 April 2014
Questions (153)
Written answers
The development of primary care is central to the Government's objective to deliver a high quality, integrated and cost effective health care system.
In addition to locations ranked as a result of the HSE's 2012 prioritisation exercise, the mechanism and timescale for delivery of primary care infrastructure is dependent on a number of factors including GP participation. GP commitment to sharing accommodation with HSE staff and delivering health care services from these facilities is essential for primary care centre delivery. All potential primary care centres are also subject to suitable locations being offered/provided/available and to successful planning processes. In addition the operational lease mechanism is subject to market pressures such as the developers' access to sufficient financing. Delivery of primary care infrastructure is a dynamic exercise, constantly evolving to take account of changing circumstances including the feasibility of implementation.
As with all capital projects the primary care infrastructure programme including this location must be considered within the overall capital envelope available to the health service. There will always be more projects than can be funded by the Exchequer. There is limited funding available for new projects over the period 2014-2018 given the level of commitments and the costs to completion already in place.