Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I am aware the Deputy is an expert on medicine. We can discuss the matter later. Day and inpatients are being dealt with in much shorter periods. The relevant staff have, therefore, maximised the return from our acute hospitals.

Deputy Joe Higgins is correct that because of the standard of services on offer in our public hospitals, the huge numbers of staff that have been committed and the deployment of modern equipment, people who are seriously ill are far better off in public hospitals than they would be in their private counterparts.

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