Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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What the Minister is doing here is going to undermine the objective - with which many of us agree - of introducing universal health insurance.

He needs to reconsider this.

I want to make two brief points. The first is that taxation and tax relief should be about behavioural change but section 8 undermines that. Everyone who knows about the health insurance system would argue that we need to get more young people and families into the system but this section will do the opposite. That would provide for the first time a small incentive to encourage families to take out health insurance or bring their children back into the health insurance system.

The Minister gave the example of a typical policy and worked out the cost which is €80 in respect of the loss in tax relief. Can he give the figure of the cumulative cost of the budget in regard to the tax relief, the health insurance levy and the increased public hospital bed cost? What additional cost will that impose on the premium of a typical policy?