Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 November 2023
28. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the provision of a primary care centre in Tullow, County Carlow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48988/23]
View answerI wish to thank the Deputy for allowing me the opportunity to discuss the progress being made on expanding our primary care infrastructure nationally and, indeed in County Carlow.
A central objective of the Programme for Government is to deliver increased levels of integrated health care with service delivery reoriented towards general practice, primary care and community-based services to enable a “home first” approach. Integral to this, is the development of Primary Care Centres in our local communities, 172 of which have opened to date, with a further nine in construction.
Regarding the provision of a Primary Care Centre in Tullow, County Carlow, this development is currently at the early planning stage and will be delivered via the developer-led Operational Lease model. I am happy to inform the Deputy that the HSE has confirmed that a Letter of Intent was issued to the successful developer and this matter has now proceeded to the next stage, which is the Agreement for Lease (AFL).
As the Deputy will understand, at this very early stage of the process, it is not possible to provide specific timelines for the completion of this project. However, once the Agreement for Lease process has been completed, an outline of the construction programme and target dates will be confirmed. It is currently anticipated that the planning application will be submitted by year end 2023.
The Primary Care Centre in Tullow will join the Carlow Town Primary Care Centre serving the population of North Carlow. The Deputy might also wish to note that a further Primary Care Centre, also at the early planning stage, will be located in Graiguenamanagh and will serve parts of the South Carlow catchment area.
