A decade on and the Finglas Primary Care Centre has not yet been built

Dublin City Councillor Noeleen Reilly has said it “is not acceptable” that a primary health care centre has not yet been built in Finglas.

A health care centre for the Finglas area has been in the pipeline for “about a decade now,” Reilly says, but progress has been slow.

“The whole project has been caught up in bureaucracy from the beginning and it is not fair on the community,” she says.

“Finglas has a large growing population and there simply aren’t enough GPs in the area.

“There is none in Finglas South or West.

“That is why a Primary Care Centre is badly needed,” she says.

In February 2021, the council was advised that a land swap would take place between the HSE and the City of Dublin Education and Training Board (CDETB) to facilitate the development of the building.

The feasibility study on the land was completed in early 2022 and the HSE was satisfied with the results.

However, two years on from the initial agreement, progress has stalled once more.

“There was a very clear need identified for a Primary Health Care Centre and this has not been fulfilled,” Reilly says.

“The last update from the Department of Health was in February 2022 regarding land swaps that need to be completed between the different stakeholders.

“Almost a year later and that still hasn’t been finalised.

“The Finglas Primary Health Care Centre needs to be a priority for all the Government and those involved in Dublin City Council.

“It is very frustrating for the community that it is taking so long to deliver adequate health care facilities in the area.

“I have consistently people on to me who cannot find a doctor in the nearby area and are forced to travel long distances to be seen.

“There needs to be a greater urgency from the HSE in delivery this facility for the people of Finglas.

“There was a clear need identified in the area and that shouldn’t take over ten years to deliver.”