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

The Deputies have raised reasonable points. I agree with Deputy Ó Caoláin that I did say on Second Stage that implementation would be dependent on how much co-operation there was with the insurance industry. I am happy to say that we have had good discussions with the insurers. On Deputy Naughten's point, the same applies. In other words, as a result of the discussions which my Department has had with the private insurance industry on the phasing in of the charges for all private patients, including those who occupy public beds, I have decided to implement the charges from 1 January 2014. This will allow me time, in the context of an independent assessment, to further examine costs. There is dispute between the departmental figures, which are based on the HIPE data, a survey of all hospitals, bar three, of which two were hospices, which correlate with the HIPE data in this regard and the insurers. The fairest thing to do is allow for an independent assessment, possibly by the Health Insurance Agency, of the reality in this regard and the values that need to be put in place. I hope I have explained the situation in terms of the delay in implementation. For my part, I do not wish to raise more than €30 million. If more or less is raised, adjustments will be made.

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