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

People want to know where all of this is heading. Something will have to give eventually. The rate of increase in health insurance premium costs is unsustainable and people are not going to continue to be able to afford it, notwithstanding the sacrifices they have been prepared to make to maintain their health insurance cover. The percentage covered is still relatively high despite the declines in recent years, but I have no doubt that with the introduction of property tax and water charges next year, more and more people will end up dropping out of the system. If we are trying to get to a point at which there is health insurance for everyone, be it through direct payment by customers or through the State stepping in and providing insurance for those who cannot afford it, we are moving further away from that goal. That is the difficulty as I see it. What is the policy to try to bring down health insurance premiums? If they keep going the way they are going, health insurance will become the preserve of the rich. More and more people will end up dropping out.