Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

Much of it — 60% — is to do with better health interventions.

With regard to visits to general practitioners, the evidence, including the SRI survey, shows that a person over 70 who has free medical treatment, if one wants to use that phrase, goes once more often per year than somebody who does not. The average attendance was 5.2, which increased by one visit per year.

Equally, it is the case that many of the people who are currently in our acute hospital system in this city and elsewhere, who should be in long-stay accommodation or perhaps with a home care package — I hope when we introduce the fair deal scheme they will be in long-term care — are people with full medical cards so that does not prove anything. The fact that a person has a medical card which entitles him or her to see the general practitioner without payment and get drugs without payment does not mean that people do not end up in hospital. Deputy Reilly knows that to be the case.

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