James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We looked to the Danish system when establishing a patient safety authority. Advances have been made there and in Canada. We looked to the UK in the case of the trust model for hospitals. We first saw the special delivery unit system in operation in Northern Ireland. Far from being based on the Dutch system, our approach is based on several systems. I always said we would take the best element of each system that fits the Irish situation. We are continuing to do that. The funding of the model is quite simple. We are going to raise the funds through the existing insurance premiums and through general taxation. That is how the system operates now. There is no particular mystery to that.

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