Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Chair, I just want to register one point briefly. We heard evidence at the committee late last year from Professor Allyson Pollock of Queen Mary University of London in which she stated the committee might consider the Canadian model. The two characteristics of this model, as she presented it to the committee, are that it is a tax-based, single-tier health care system, free at the point of use, somewhat like the National Health Service in the UK, but perhaps taking a step further down the road. This is linked to a ban in Canada on private health insurance. Professor Allyson Pollock suggested this could be considered as an option by the committee. I object to that approach being described as scaremongering.