Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This committee has been established to discuss how to provide a health service that is free at the point of entry and to which everybody can have equal access. There are interests in this country's health system that do not want such a service to be provided. Health care is a lucrative area for private companies, including private hospitals. We must base our recommendations on evidence. I would like more information about the US health care system, which is perhaps not a health care system. I would like to get evidence from Scotland, Canada and other places. We should be discussing such matters at this committee. I do not think Professor Pollock can deal with all of that today. She has given us an outline of the US system, which does not provide equal access for the people of that country. She referred to the UK example as well. I wish her well in her campaign to reinstate the NHS in Britain because I think it has been a beacon for many countries. I was very interested in her presentation.