Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am a great believer in social insurance and the contributory principle. This is the idea that everyone pays into the system. Everyone should pay social insurance, even if it is only a small amount. In return, everyone should benefit. We run the risk in this society of dividing society into a group of people who pay a lot of taxes and get little in return, because they are excluded due to means tests and so on, and another group who contribute very little, who think they should not contribute anything, but who, at the same time, think they should be entitled to everything, even for free. That is not the kind of society I want. The society I want is one that is contributory, one in which everyone who can pay in, pays in, even if it is only a small amount. In return, people get guaranteed benefits that are not means tested or do not involve waiting lists. The social insurance benefits we get, such as the contributory pension, maternity benefit, paternity benefit and so on are good examples. Treatment benefit is one of these.

While this may not be the position of my party, my personal view is that I foresee us in future using the social insurance system in the way that France does, for example, to pay for more things and, perhaps, more treatments. For example, in France a person can have his doctor fees partially refunded from social insurance. I am unsure about chiropodists but potentially it could work for them as well. That is a good system of social insurance and it works. First of all, it is contributory. People understand that they have to pay for it and that someone else is not going to pay for it. They know Apple or someone else will not pay for medical care. That system also allows us to use private providers effectively.

There has never been a waiting list for any of these schemes. The fact they are provided by private providers makes it possible.