Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is about time people on the Government benches woke up and realised that this is the direction of travel. This is where the Cabinet wants to take us. According to the document, "Under the new system, the Department of Health will have a central governance and policy development role in relation to the health service", and that is all. In the future, the principal purchasers of health care will be insurance companies. That will apply at primary and community level as well as at hospital level. I believe this is a disaster for our health service. It is not the way to deliver a single tier universal health care system. There are much better models that suit the Irish situation. We should start looking at them. If we go down this route, it will result in a completely dismantled and disjointed health service that will certainly not meet the needs of the people.

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