Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy McLellan. It is good to have friends in the House.

At present we have decreasing numbers of people with health insurance, rising premiums for those who have, more pressure on the public health system from those coming off insurance and the persistence of the two-tier public-private system with the struggling public system subsidising the private system. Sinn Féin has calculated, based on Government figures, that were the Government to apply the full cost of private beds in public hospitals, it would save €432.5 million. This sum could then be spent in the public system to reduce waiting times and overcrowding in hospitals and to improve services. One must ask what is the real prospect of change under the Government. Already the promised extension of free GP care has been postponed. The programme for Government promised the White Paper on financing universal health insurance early in the Government's first term. The Department of Health's recent briefing for the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children states it will be published as early as possible within the Government's term of office. Members are all still waiting.

In conclusion, I believe choosing the insurance route is a mistake and this private insurance mix certainly is. It offers the increasingly remote prospect of reform while the deeply flawed current two-tier system deteriorates, especially as a result of the Government's austerity policy and health cuts that are undermining the public health system. Accordingly, I urge support for the Sinn Féin amendment to the motion.

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