Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This relates to the increase in stamp duty levy applied to health insurance policies. I know this was the subject of a two-night debate during Private Members' business over the past two evenings. I did not get to follow all of it because we were dealing with this Bill. The effect of section 80 means that the levy alone will represent €940 on the renewal subscription for a health insurance policy for a family of four. Government policy in this area is to move towards universal health insurance.

At the moment, the number of people who are foregoing or dropping health cover is approximately 6,000 per month. It seems counterintuitive if the policy is to get everybody to the point at which those who can afford to pay have their own health insurance and there is another model to fund health insurance for those who cannot. The number of people with health insurance is declining. We know people are reluctant to let their health insurance go. People have made great sacrifices to keep their health insurance up and rank it as a priority in their family budgets. The Minister is looking for intergenerational support in the health insurance system but if he keeps driving younger, healthier people out of it, the result is that the levies will continue to increase and consequently premiums will increase. The system seems to be heading towards a crash. This was debated over the last two nights in the Dáil. I want to know what the policy is. The effect of the Minister's proposal is that more people will end up dropping their health insurance, which makes the achievement of the overall Government objective much more difficult. The VHI will need hundreds of millions more euro in the relatively short term. The policy is not sustainable.