Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Dr. Figueras to the meeting. We have a ten-year strategy for health that is primarily focused on how we will deliver a universal health care model. Universal health access is something we would all very much strive to achieve. However, we could have a universal health care system but bad health care if that system is under-funded and under-resourced. In the context of universal health care and the provision of same across the European Union, during the downturn, for example, many budgets were squeezed and while universal access was still maintained I am certain that in some countries the quality of care available diminished, waiting times escalated and outcomes also diminished. How do we put in place a system that provides for universal health care and also plan a funding model, which would be critically important, to guarantee some form of certainty in terms of the service? When a country experiences a recessionary period there will be cutbacks, which goes back to the point about low hanging fruit and high fruit and so on. There is a need for us to address that issue. For example, almost half the population of Ireland have voluntary health insurance. One could argue that it is out of fear of the public health system that people take out private health insurance but, at the same time, it is seen to be voluntary. Should any government untangle what is effectively a voluntary tax by people in the sense they are willing to pay for private health cover and thereby lighten the burden on the public health system? If we have to move to a model of universal health care in this country where or how do we fit the private health insurance and private health care system into that? Reference was made to a big bang and small bangs but it would require a very big bang to move to such a system. I do not expect an answer but perhaps some observations on that issue.