Mr. Seán Murphy:

In the context of the health insurance in particular, I could not agree more with Senator Barrett. We did a paper on this in mid-2011.

The context and concept of a €300 million overrun in the HSE's budget at the same time as we are cutting carer allowances absolutely beggar belief. The solution the Department of Health has embraced is such that it is now going to charge those with health insurance for beds, regardless of whether they are in a public ward or a private ward. It will be the same fee. There is absolutely no incentive to improve productivity in the affected hospitals when what is being resolved is on the revenue side, rather than the reform side. There is a lack of recognition of price elasticity of demand and the fact that the hard-pressed 40-somethings and 30-somethings will pull out of the health insurance market, leading to its absolute collapse. It seems that all the Department of Health wants to do is keep on increasing the levy. What I outline is a prime example of the kinds of reforms we should be talking about. It is not austerity but reform to stay within budget and reward the most productive hospitals doing the most productive work, rather than actually giving a sop to those hospitals that are least productive and giving them a blank pay cheque each year to blackmail us into paying.