Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not believe it is desirable, when emergency departments are overcrowded, that space in public hospitals is being used in such a way that private practice can continue unquestioned, although we are generating a very significant income from it, as the Chairman stated entirely correctly. From an equity point of view, that is an issue all of us wish to grapple with but there is recognition, including in the comments of the Chairman, that this is a very complex issue. That is why it should be seen through the prism of a ten-year plan rather than a knee-jerk ideological response. We have got to get this right. To get from start to finish is a journey of years rather than an overnight journey.