Published: Wednesday, 24th March, 2010 6:00pm

HSE pulls the plug on Athlone Primary Care centre funding

by Danielle Harney

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The on-going saga of the Primary Care Centre in Clonbrusk has hit a new low, with news breaking this week that funding for the development has been scrapped.

The earliest at which the long-promised €20 million project will be looked at again will be 2015, Oireachtas members were informed at a meeting with HSE management on Monday.

The health campus was granted planning permission last year after ten years of planning and envisages centralising much of local health services in a 6,400 square foot part three, part four storey building

"The primary care centre is not going to happen," said Fine Gael Senator Nicky McFadden. "It's a pure failure of the government... Athlone really is a poor relation in healthcare. At the last meeting we had with the HSE they showed us designs of the centre, and even now that's a waste of money and a waste of resources, it's an utter outrage.

"We didn't even get a date. Joe Ruane (local HSE manager) told us that in 2015/2016 there's a possibility it might come back on schedule. I'm so disappointed.

Moate, Kinnegad, Mullingar and Longford all have or are getting primary care centres, but there's nothing for us... It was an utterly depressing meeting."

She said that the budget for the HSE to spend this year in the Midlands has been cut by €22 million by the Department of Health.

She added that she didn't blame the local HSE staff for the lack of funding, but instead she blamed those making the top decisions.

"The Minister for Health has failed, Brendan Drumm had failed, it's just not good enough," she said. "The old health boards should be brought back and that way at least people would be in charge of spending the money locally."

"Clonbrusk is not in the capital budget. Five years ago it was included and the money was given... instead of going ahead and building it then, now it's disappeared from the budget," said Fianna Fáil Deputy Mary O'Rourke.

Last year meeting with local councillors, Mr Ruane stopped short of issuing an iron-clad assurance that funding for the project would remain, he did stress that he had been told he had €20m to spend on the facility.

Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, who had warned of this outcome some months ago, said he was disappointed but not surprised.

"It's so disappointing, but in the present climate I wasn't expecting anything else."

He said the process of design and planning permission could now turn out to be a complete waste of money.

Cllr Moran said he had no faith in Minister Mary Harney and warned that the HSE must not be allowed dispose of the site at Clonbrusk to raise funds for its activities.

However, Cllr Moran said at least the doctors had not buckled under pressure to row in behind the primary care centre.

"The doctors were being held to ransom for a great number of years by the HSE," he added.

The HSE this week said, in an official statement, that its capital plan for 2010 had not yet been signed off.