Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha:

On the question of private beds in public hospitals, we also made a submission to the independent review. The costing takes into account the private health insurance deficit that would follow rather than the current cost of having private patients in public hospitals. The issue that underpins the premise of the Sláintecare report is equity, which we fully support. There is no doubt that there is a fast track in the context of having private health insurance. The unwinding of the tax relief for private health insurance will only happen when the services are provided by the State in public hospitals and there is confidence among citizens that they do not need private health insurance. This confidence has to be brought about very quickly. This undoubtedly is an issue of capacity but it is also an issue of adequate staffing to open more beds, including the people we represent.