Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That was my hunch. Some 14% of people who opt for day surgery are private patients, but the comparable percentage opting for inpatient treatments is much higher. Does this have anything to do with the operation of the private health industry? If someone needs a day case procedure, he or she may need to pay for it and reclaim the cost from a private health insurer at a later date. If someone is an inpatient and is kept overnight, though, the VHI, Laya or so on pays for everything and the client will not have to write a cheque. The consultant, the anaesthetist, the hospital's bed manager and so on send a bill to the insurer. As such, there is an incentive for private patients to have procedures done on an inpatient basis. This is borne out by the HSE's figures. A higher percentage of private patients opt for overnight treatment. Does Dr. O'Connell follow my point?