Dr. Donal de Buitléir:

Trying to step back from it, our instruction was there was cross-party agreement that private medicine should be taken out of the public system. There was a concern that the Oireachtas committee or someone else might have missed something and we were asked if it could be done in a way that was achievable. I had four very helpful colleagues who made a significant contribution to this work and our considered view is that it can be done. As such, it is now a matter for the political system. It is a question of values and whether one believes it is proper that people in a public institution should be treated equally, regardless of their ability to pay. That is a question for the political system. I remember when equal pay was introduced in 1974, some said we could not afford it, but it is a question of values. There are some issues where one either believes something or one does not. If one believes it and wants to make the change, my committee was able to establish that it could be done, albeit there would be a price. It is up to the political system to decide, in the face of competing priorities, whether achieving the goal of equal treatment in a public institution is worth it. That is a deeply political question.