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

Mr. Woods is speaking about people being admitted through emergency departments. There are many other ways through which patients enter hospitals. Is there incentivisation in that regard? Consultant X who has two patients, one private and the other public, in a hospital that needs funds could opt to treat the private patient ahead of the public patient because the hospital would be paid €800 per night by an insurance provider on behalf of that patient. My question is not only about those who enter hospital through emergency departments but also those patients who do so through consultants, outpatient referrals and so on.