Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am not familiar with the practices of these health insurance companies. For example, I am not familiar with how the contracts of employment are working in VHI. I am not sure if the people answering telephones and looking after front-office desks are being provided with free health insurance as part of their remuneration package. Many of them would not be on substantial incomes and may now face a substantial tax bill. The package they signed up to may be reduced by a €1,000 liability. VHI operates in my parish in Gaoth Dobhair. I am not familiar with the details of those packages, but many people work in desk jobs and I cannot imagine that their salaries are massive. Obviously it is a State-owned company as well. Has the Department considered the impact on employees as a result of people who would have taken up employment at a certain level of remuneration but were offered a health insurance package as part of that remuneration which was untaxed and was therefore worth a certain amount of money but is now only worth half what they expected it to be worth?