Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

There is no doubt the mix system has worked well in Ireland. I am a strong supporter of people making investment in the provision of their own health care while they can. We will get more resources in that context. It is a question of ensuring that a person who does not have the possibility of becoming privately insured is not disadvantaged and that the private facilities can be used to his or her benefit as well. We can do both and we can get much more private investment in health care in terms of bed capacity and diagnostics. There are many areas where the private sector can make a contribution to delivering better services for the population.

See this speech in context