Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

If the Deputy accepts the policy of charging the market price for these beds, it will have a knock on effect on the cost of insurance. Every year insurers have complained but that is a complaint worth hearing because this cost is not acceptable. The policy behind this is right. If we were establishing a greenfield health system in Ireland from scratch and recruiting consultants, we would never arrive at a position where beds were ring-fenced. In addition, a consultant is paid a private fee for insured patients in public hospitals and that has led to a scenario where public patients are put on waiting lists and private patients have ready access to publicly funded and staffed hospital facilities.

The first objective of co-location is to convert 1,000 such beds, which cost €350,000 each a year, for public use at a cost of less than one third of that amount. That would deliver terrific value for money because the staff are paid anyway. The second objective is to secure private investment in delivery capacity, which I have sought elsewhere in the health system, because we face major pressures. The announcement was made in July 2005 and not five years ago. We have a disparate capital infrastructure because the health services are the most decentralised of all State services given that they must be provided locally and, therefore, there are significant demands on infrastructure, much of which is old. New equipment is always coming on the market to deliver improved care and there are always pressures.

There will no change to the terms of the co-location scheme. The only advice the Government has taken is from our own adviser, the NTDA, which continues to provide us with expert advice.

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