Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

As for the hospitals which are in severe difficulty and are bringing forward deficits from 2011 to 2012, I refer to the Minister's proposed changes to how hospitals charge private patients. Is there not an added incentive that in future, hospitals will prioritise private patients, given their ability to recoup the full costs from such patients? Moreover, in the context of hospitals being individualised into trusts over a period of time, could this not incentivise private patients over public patients to reduce budget deficits?

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