Fianna Fáil Galway West TD, John Connolly, has welcomed confirmation from the HSE Board that it has “fully signed off” on the proposal to develop a new Primary Care Centre in Galway City.
The confirmation came via a Dáil Question from Dep Connolly to the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, leading to a written reply, issued on Tuesday, 1 July, by the Head of Primary Care Services for Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon.
The response informed Dep Connolly that the HSE Board had “fully signed off on the proposal to develop a Primary Care Centre in Galway City West”.
“This is good news for health care services in Galway City, but also across the entire Galway West region,” said Dep Connolly. “This will allow people to get seen too quickly and have their health concerns met, while also taking pressure off UHG, particularly its A&E department. It also shows the Government’s Sláintecare reform programme is progressing and delivering.”
The Primary Care Centre will be developed at a cost of €50 million.
The centre will be a “diagnostic superhub” with spaces for physiotherapy and occupational therapy treatment, ophthalmology, and paediatric, dental, community mental health, and day hospital services, as well as administrative accommodation.
There will also be two GP practices; a four-storey Tusla family support building with interview and access rooms; an ambulance deployment building with support rooms and rest areas for ambulance staff; and more than 120 car parking spaces in an underground car park, and 220 bike parking spaces.
Dep Connolly acknowledges that the proposed development generated concern owing to its height but that planning permission for the centre, subject to more than 20 conditions, was originally granted by Galway City Council in 2023 and subsequently by An Bord Pleanala. Among the conditions including that the proposed building be reduced in size and height.
The final permission for the Primary Care Centre needed to come from the HSE national board. Today’s announcement means that work on developing the centre as part of the overall development can finally go ahead.
“I am very aware of, and fully understand, the genuine concerns local residents have about the overall development,” said Dep Connolly, “but once the Primary Care Centre is built and operational, people will see a transformation in healthcare services across the City and people will experience greater accessibility to health services leading to benefits in their own lives. This development will ultimately prove beneficial to all.”
