Locations in Reilly's constituency added to primary care list after deadline

Two locations in the Health Minister James Reilly's constituency were added to a list of places chosen for primary care centres - after the final list drawn up by the HSE was passed to his department.

The Irish Times today reports the two locations in Swords and Balbriggan in Dublin were initially ranked 130th and 44th.

Yet they were both added to a priority list of 35 sites by Minister Reilly's Department.

Documents obtained by the newspaper under a Freedom of Information request show Junior Minister Roisín Shortall wrote to Dr Reilly saying she found it difficult to understand the basis on which the locations were selected.

In her Dáil speech on the confidence motion on Dr Reilly earlier this week, Ms Shortall said: "Decisions on where primary care centres are located must be transparent and objective, based on health need and no other consideration."