Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, a Chathaoirligh. I have listened carefully to the Minister of State, but I think the proportion of people affected, at 57%, is not an insignificant percentage. I know some of the estimates we got after the budget were around €200 per family, and that is a significant additional cost. I am ad idem with Deputy Boyd Barrett. Deputy Shortall, Deputy Boyd Barrett and I all have a similar belief in a certain type of health system. Over the years we had a lengthy debate in the Labour Party about the best approach to reforming the Irish health system. Under a previous spokesperson in 2002, we eventually went with the insurance-based system, but a number of us felt that a national health service such as that which has been in the UK for decades, including Northern Ireland, was a fairer system. If the wealthiest people wanted to have a more private system, then so be it, but the vast bulk of people should receive the necessary service very quickly at the point of use. Unfortunately, the Minister of Finance and the Minister for Health cannot come into the House and present us with some sort of national health system which would obviate the concerns that many of my constituents genuinely have about this and about the impact the current system will have on their lives.

The Minister of State is right about the profits made by insurance companies and about the need to examine that area to see if there can be greater efficiencies.

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