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

I thank Dr. Burke. One of my questions was the one Deputy Louise O'Reilly raised regarding the NHS legislation and whether it should be brought in initially. She was very adamant that it would have to be the case. The committee is established to be evidence based regarding what is the best health service for our country. Reports such as this are very important for us to see the evidence on whether private health care is good or bad. The item that strikes me is that out of pocket spending had increased since 2008 to €580 million. This was during one of the worst periods austerity and cutbacks that we have had, and people have had to fork out extra money along with it. Dr. Burke said if we went to the NHS style of health care it would cost money. How do we determine this cost if we are saving in some areas and having to pay in others, for example, the €580 million in out of pocket expenses? How and when do we know what the costs will be?

Dr. Burke mentioned more staff. Could she develop this issue? We are losing staff. How do we retain our staff? What is Dr. Burke's opinion? If we are processing the idea of a national health service - I do not know if the entire committee agrees - we will need resources and they must be put in place early to ensure we have staff in the future to retain them. Should the State pay for nurses' and midwives' training and insist they stay in Ireland for the following ten or 15 years and be embedded them in rural areas to pay it back?