Mr. Liam Downey:

As the Deputy is aware, there has been a downturn in the market in general. In my submission I mention the position on the retention of younger lives. In 2008, when things were good, market penetration, rather than the percentage of people in the market who were members, stood at 51%. This figure has dropped to approximately 44% or 45% across the entire market. Unfortunately, the biggest impact has been felt in respect of the retention of younger lives, which, going back to the issue of risk equalisation, is why it is so important that we have in place a scheme that is effective. VHI has lost members, but, happily, the decline in membership has started to tail off in the past couple of years. I am hopeful the position will stabilise this year. It is a matter of record - the relevant material can be found on the Health Information Authority's website - that VHI membership has declined by in the order of 400,000 during the years. However, the figure is starting to stabilise and we hope, with the advent of lifetime community rating in the coming months, to begin competing again in order to gain new members. We look forward to increasing our membership as more people can afford to pay for health insurance. The entire market, including VHI, lost members during the difficult years.