Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Before Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan leaves the Chamber I wish to agree with what she said earlier about the misuse of accident and emergency departments and how that must be examined. We must ensure that when people come to accident and emergency departments, they come for all the right reasons. If we are to have universal health insurance we must consider what happens in accident and emergency departments. The key to having a proper health service is having a link with primary care and ensuring that primary care units throughout the country are staffed properly. Special needs services will form part of primary care services and they must be in place as well.

Like many people, I have knocked on doors in recent weeks. I congratulate the Cabinet for signing off yesterday on the free GP card for children under six years of age. In recent weeks while campaigning for local elections I have been asked on numerous occasions by many people about the under-six free GP care card and when it will be introduced. I have been reluctant to say it would come in but I am pleased after yesterday's news that there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel. I appeal to the Irish Medical Organisation and doctors and GPs in general to come back in and sit at the table with the Minister and the Department and put a final seal on this for parents. I had young children myself in the past although they are grown up now. I remember the many times when I had to go to the GP with them. The cost of that alone was crippling, even then.

I am pleased to take this opportunity to discuss the Government White Paper on universal health insurance published on 2 April. I welcome the public consultation process that will take place to allow people to make submissions up to 28 May. It is important that people are given the opportunity to make submissions after they digest the contents of the White Paper.

Universal health insurance is a key commitment in the programme for Government. I recall while running in the last election how important the issue was for people at the doors. They were keen to have a health service that would treat everyone equally. It is being introduced to bring about a fundamental change in the structure of our health service and represents a brave and bold move towards reforming our health service to make it more friendly and equal for everyone. Sometimes I think this should have been introduced a long time ago and that we should not have been waiting for so many years to bring it in. As many of us know, for far too long there has been a two-tier service in this country. This has meant that people who can afford it can jump the queue and have greater access to anything in the health service. This is mot fair and it is why the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, is introducing this new scheme of universal health insurance in order that everyone has the same access to the best level of care. This is what we should be about and what the Government should be about. It should be about giving people the opportunity to access the care they need.

As other speakers have noted, at the centre of the proposal is the money-follows-the-patient principle. I fundamentally disagree with some of the speakers who have said that hospitals should be given great blocks of money and then allowed to do what they with them. If we ran our homes in that way half of us would never be able to put food on the table. The money should follow the patient because it means people must do the work that they are asked to do. This is why the Minister is introducing this system.

There has been much debate about universal health insurance and who will pay. At present, approximately 41% of the population hold a medical card and therefore have free GP visit cards and free hospital care.

Free GP care for children aged under six years will, please God, be introduced. Everyone else must pay for a GP visit, sometimes up to as much as €60, or €75 per night for a hospital stay, up to €750 over a 12-month period in a public health hospital. Currently, 45% of the population has private health insurance to ensure faster access, but why should everyone not have the same access? This is what universal health insurance, UHI, is about.

In recent years, waiting lists have sky rocketed, with many people waiting up to two years for treatment. Some have waited even longer. However, the Department of Health, the HSE and the special delivery unit have been working hard during the past three years to reduce waiting lists. Figures prove this is happening. A major overhaul of the system is still necessary in particular areas, one or two of which I have already mentioned.

In light of our aging population, it is important that we have properly resourced primary care centres so that people need not attend hospitals every time. We need to take on the challenges presented by the health service and make tough decisions, which is what the Minister is doing. It is important to keep the end goal in sight, that is, a better and fairer health service for all regardless of whether someone has money.

I will welcome UHI being debated by the health committee, of which I am a member. It is important that the matter be debated by the committee so that all parties have an opportunity to discuss the Bill at length before decisions are made. I thank the Minister for being present at the resumption of the debate this morning. I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy White, for his attendance. What we will be introducing is complex, but if we give people the right information and support, I do not doubt that everyone will enjoy the same coverage, which is what people deserve as citizens of this country. That is what I want as a citizen and as a public representative.

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