Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Government is agreed to the introduction of a policy of universal health insurance. That has been the policy of my party for more than a decade. It is something that is coming after a period of Fianna Fáil Government when it showed no interest in reforming the unfair two-tier health system we have had for a long time in this country. It still does not, of course, which is why it has opposed the Government's proposals to give a break to families with a medical card for their children.

This Government believes people should be treated based on medical need, not on the amount of money they have in their pockets, so people who get sick know they can get treated in good time. We also want to change the incentives to the health system in order that the majority of people get treated in their communities and do not end up unnecessarily in accident and emergency or in a hospital bed. That makes sense when it comes to keeping people healthy and spending taxpayers' money in a way that is most effective. That is why, for example, the Government has put an emphasis on putting in place the building blocks for a universal health insurance system. It is why we decided to lower the cost of accessing primary care for people, starting with the introduction of free GP visits for children aged five and under. It is also why we are building up the primary care system.

The introduction of universal health insurance is a major reform project. It is not going to happen overnight and it is important we get it right. We are not rushing it. There is a lot of preparatory work that has to be done and the White Paper is part of that. It will be the basis for the consultation, including what should be included in the guaranteed basket of services. Other preparatory work is also ongoing, such as the introduction of the money follows the patient concept across the public hospital system and free GP visits for those aged five and under. Regarding cost, as I said, we must proceed cautiously. We want a more efficient health system that delivers better value for taxpayers and we also need to keep health insurance affordable.

We are at an early stage in this. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Finance, as one would expect them to do, are doing their job, which is to probe the costings and to maintain an oversight of policy in terms of its cost implications at an early stage. We want, over time, to reform the health service in order that it treats people as early and efficiently as possible. To do that, we want to keep health costs affordable for families and for the taxpayer. The alternative, of course, is the Fianna Fáil alternative, which is to do nothing and to allow a drift. That is not acceptable to us. The White Paper is being prepared. It will be published in the not too distant future and it will provide an opportunity then for all of us to have an input into the discussion on how universal health insurance is progressed.

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