Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----which is what we are seeking to do in this measure. Of course, we would like to be in a position where we would not have to find €2.5 billion in this year's budget but that is where we are, and we all know why that is so. A sum of €94 million is being found in this area.

It is important to bear in mind the background to this, and most people have spoken about that. There are 1.9 million people with free access to both primary and secondary care, with approximately 2 million paying private insurance. Much of that is paid in order to get preferential access to care, which is an advantage of health insurance, as some care is available in private hospitals. I am surprised to hear such a trenchant argument against a relief that is clearly progressive, and any cursory examination of this would indicate it is progressive. Those on the benches opposite were very strongly attacking it as if it were a regressive policy. It is also consistent with the long-term ambitions that many people, including myself, have to introduce universal health insurance, where people have access to a core package that is allocated equitably and eschews preferential access. This approach is similar as we are concentrating the tax relief on the core packages and curtailing tax reliefs available to the upper end.

One must consider this in the context of the economics. If the taxpayer picks up 20% of the cost of the upper packages, regardless of what is put into them, there will be a major incentive for insurance companies to keep loading on the more expensive packages and seeking to get people to pay more for them.

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