Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Private hospitals will make a small number of investors very rich. Not only will they get public land at Blanchardstown to build on, but they will also be given guarantees of custom from the national treatment purchase fund and their investments can be used to reduce or eliminate their tax bills. This is a sweetheart deal between the Government, the Minister for Health and Children and Ireland's super rich that puts profit before people. For the public patient it may well mean more delays for treatment. For the health insurance customer it will mean ever-increasing premiums. In case the Minister is unaware, most workers are now forced to buy private health insurance because of the chaos described by my colleague, Deputy Costello.

These private hospitals are for routine day operations, in addition to knee and hip replacements and grommets for children. They will not have emergency facilities, ICU intensive care or crash teams if somebody becomes ill. The public hospitals will ultimately have to take the responsibility for anyone becoming seriously ill. Many eminent doctors have questioned the wisdom of the headlong rush to tax-sheltered medicine.

In her address to the House earlier, the Minister said "There will be no political directives from me interfering with the management of any hospital or hospitals". Why then did she tell me last week that she sent a policy directive to the HSE to go for private tax-break hospitals? What is the difference between a political directive and a policy directive? The initial letter may be the same in both words but the understanding is very different.

The Minister holds the responsibility for anyone becoming seriously ill. We want a health service for everyone, not just the wealthy.

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