Two locations in the constituency of Health Minister James Reilly were added to a list of places chosen for primary care centres after the final list drawn up by the Health Service Executive (HSE) was passed to his Department.
The Irish Times today reports the two locations in Swords and Balbriggan were initially ranked 130th and 44th.
Yet they were both added to a priority list of 35 sites by his Department.
Documents obtained by the paper under Freedom of Information show Junior Minister Roisin Shorthall 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 that decisions on where primary care centres are located must be transparent and objective, based on health need and no other consideration.
It is understood that neither of these locations were included in the top 30 sites that the HSE recommended should receive priority.
The list initially contained some 200 locations and was later narrowed down to 20 seen as priority.
The Irish Times says after the list left the office of Minister Shorthall and was sent to the HSE, a new list of 30 locations was sent to the Department of Health and a special advisor to Minister Reilly.
The Department has said that the list was changed to bring greater certainty to the successful development of the centres.
Martin Wall is Industry Correspondent with The Irish Times.
He told Breakfast here on Newstalk that questions as to why the list was changed need to be answered.
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