John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is a fairly significant fact. Looking at Dr. Burke's figures, if 37% of the population has medical cards and 45% has private health insurance of some sort, that would mean that 18% has nothing. These people do not have medical cards or private health insurance. This means that close to one in five people is in a very vulnerable position. Will Dr. Burke comment on that, assuming I am reading her figures correctly?

Does Dr. Burke believe a better system would be for everything to be free or does a small charge act as a disincentive? I work as a pharmacist and I give the example of the prescription charges. When they were introduced initially, the charge was 50 cent per item up to a maximum of €5. My experience of that was that it did not disincentivise anybody from getting their medication. However, when they were paying 50 cent for them, people who did not want certain items on a monthly basis said they did not need them, so it actually saved some money for the system. Increasing it to €2.50 an item up to a maximum of €25 is a disincentive, but the small charge was not. I am interested to hear Dr. Burke's opinion on the entire suite of services. Would she have an issue with a small charge or is it something that could be considered?

Third, the Canadian model was mentioned a few times last week, which is a very good example of a universal health care model. The other side of that, however, is that prescription charges, dental care and home care are not covered. People go to the private market for that level of cover. Does Dr. Burke believe there is a role at some level for private health insurance to assist in the delivery of an effective health system?