Dr. Donal de Buitléir:

Yes, from an Exchequer point of view, there will be less money if people are no longer being charged, that is, the 50% of people who have private health insurance. At the moment, insurance companies pay out I think €2.5 billion. If they do not give €500 million to public hospitals, they only pay out €2 billion. Insurance premia should fall. The tax relief on the insurance premia will fall. From an Exchequer point of view, there is an effect, but from the point of view of the people out there, they are just paying for it in a different way.