Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is a source of frustration for the committee and the public that the current system is putting public patients at a disadvantage. The core of the issue is that public patients appear to be losing out in the private-public mix in the hospital service. It does not happen in general practice, but it does happen in the hospital service. People are being denied a service because they are public patients and they are being placed at a disadvantaged because they are public patients, while private patients are at an advantage because they have private health insurance. Public and private patients have the same needs, but those who have private health insurance have an advantage.