Irish Health Minister Mary Harney has officially opened a €25m primary care facility in Kildare.

The new health care campus is located beside Naas General Hospital.

The privately funded scheme offers a base for 25 medical service providers including the K-doc service, an out of hours GP service for the county, as well as a cardio clinic.

Around 74 jobs are to be created at the facility, with many more employees relocating from the HSE in Naas.

Ms Harney said she was pleased negotiations between the HSE and the developers of the facility were continuing in relation to the procurement of space there for a primary care team.

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Phase one of the campus opened earlier this week.

Phase two, which is expected to open towards the end of the year, will include a 10-bed dialysis unit and two theatres for day procedures.

The businessman behind the scheme, Ulick McEvaddy, said: "This will not be an inexpensive facility, it's not going to be cheap. I'm not pretending it is."

Mr McEvaddy said Vista, the firm behind the initiative, was in negotiations with private health insurance companies about covering patients attending the facility.

Labour’s health spokesperson Jan O'Sullivan said the fact that Ms Harney was opening the private enterprise was a clear indication "that the profit motive has crept in to become a significant driver in the provision of our health services".

Meanwhile, US firm Melcut Cutting Tools Ltd is to build a new base in County Clare, creating fifty new jobs.

(PR/JM)