Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The advantage in the system is that medical consultants can work in private and public hospitals. It is my absolute conviction that the public patient gains most out of that system. A high-powered consultant who has worked anywhere in the world, comes back to this country and operates in public and private hospitals in our system.

The fact there is co-location on the site whereby some beds are designated as private, and there is a public hospital too, for out-patient clinics, ward rounds, surgery, pathology, radiology and a host of other services we get the benefit of top class consultants who can work on both sites. That is an excellent system. It means that Joe and Mary Bloggs who have little other than welfare, or Mr. X or Mr. Y, who are millionaires or billionaires, can be seen by the same consultant. It happens every day in our hospitals, very successfully.

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