By Dan Walsh
Fine Gael TD for Wicklow Wexford Brian Brennan has cautiously welcomed progress on the Gorey Primary Care Centre project but has vowed that he will continue to keep pressure on to finally drive this project to completion.
In response to a Dail Question tabled by Deputy Brennan by Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, the Minister has confirmed that a preferred bidder for the project has been identified and that the project is now progressing through internal review and approval processes within the HSE.
Welcoming the progress, Deputy Brennan said; “It is almost unfathomable that a town with the demographic profile of Gorey does not yet have a Primary Care Centre to serve some of the most basic health needs of the community.
“This project has been talked about for years and has had several false starts so it is absolutely imperative that we get it right for once and for all.
“Since taking office, I have been in constant contact with the Minister to ensure that progress continues and have investigated all possible options to help with getting this over the line.
“Gorey is one of the fastest growing towns in Ireland and as such it is struggling to meet the day-to-day health needs of its people. In addition, Courtown/ Riverchapel is now Wexford’s fifth largest town, and an estimated population increase in the summer of 40,000 people from Castletown to Cahore puts huge strain on existing services.
“The development of a Primary Care Centre will help to address some of the issues faced in Gorey and bring services directly into the community that have been lacking up to now.
In the Minister’s response she detailed the prior issues with this project and outlined the current position in the process as follows; “As previously communicated, the need for a new Primary Care Centre in Gorey had been previously identified. A tender process had been undertaken, and a Preferred Provider had been selected. Unfortunately, the selected Preferred Provider encountered difficulties regarding the economic viability of the proposed project, resulting in the collapse of this process.
In conclusion, Deputy Brennan said; “I am optimistic that this project is on the right track but there can be no room for complacency. The people of Gorey deserve to have access to a state-of-the-art Primary Care Centre to meet their day-to-day healthcare needs in the community and I will continue to do everything in my power to make this happen.”
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