Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That really does not answer the question. I do not think there are not too many private patients in the country looking to waive their private patient status so they can become public patients and not get any treatment. The question I ask is why not let the private patients continue to be paid for by the insurance companies, which is what would have happened, leaving all of the money to be deployed for use exclusively with public patients.