Mr. Stephen Mulvany:

The charge is set in legislation. Whether we should have such charges is a matter for policy. The Sláintecare report indicates a potential change in that policy, and that is being worked through. I am not giving my personal view on the charge. We may agree to differ on the notion of the stretch charge. Once there is any charge, there is a potential, all other things being equal, for the private patient to get into the public room. The important thing to stress is that single rooms are always clinically prioritised for things such as infection control. If all other things are genuinely the same, particularly clinically, the private patient will get the option to go into the single room ahead of somebody else. That is the impact of the legislation and policy because we are operating a system where we charge.