Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

The administrative costs of the Health Service Executive and the National Health Service, NHS, are approximately the same at 16% of the budget. As Deputy Reilly is aware, the NHS is outsourcing a significant amount of activity to the private sector. My point is that we should become less obsessed with who pays who to do what. We should be more concerned with patients and getting access for patients to good quality treatment, which is what we are seeking to do.

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