East Mayo town remains 'in limbo land' over proposed health facility

A senior official of the Department of Health has responded to concerns by a Mayo TD regarding the delay in the provision of the proposed primary care centre in Ballyhaunis.

Deputy Alan Dillon said a situation has arisen whereby a contractor has been offsite for the past two years.

He elaborated: "What is the process or protocol in place? Certainly, the people in Ballyhaunis and the surrounding areas of east Mayo have been left in limbo land, not knowing where this project is going, nor have we had any sign of the direction of travel."

In response, Derek Tierney, assistant secretary at the Department of Health, outlined: "It is fair to say the past two to three years have been very challenging from a cost of financing perspective.

"We deliver primary care centres through three main means, whether this is through a PPP where we bundle a number, contract the market and pay that back over a number of years through unitary payments; using a traditional delivery where the HSE does a design and build, or design which is then put out to the market; or then more prominently in recent years, by pursuing what is called an operation lease model where the private sector takes the risk share on planning permission, design, and cost of financing.

"We are seeing an impact on delivery in that tranche of projects at the moment.

"On one hand, it is quite simple. We have engaged a developer to deliver. It has taken a position to put a project on pause because it is looking at viability.

"We are in the process of re-engaging with a number of developers but we are seeing inflation softening so that may help unlock where we currently are.

"However, I cannot give Deputy Dillon certainty on that other than to say we are actively engaged on those properties to try to push them ahead."