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

The Deputy has raised a valid question. The whole point of having a number of insurers is to create competition in the market-place. So far, however, this has not led to the sort of changes we would like to see. The main insurer in the country is the semi-State VHI which, although it is only responsible for 57% of the market, is responsible for 80% of the payout. The VHI now has a wonderful opportunity to attack this cost base.

The number of insurers in the market is healthy. However, the Health Insurance Authority will be empowered, through legislation, to play a much greater role in regulating the market. In particular, we currently have an outrageous situation whereby there are over 256 different policies. My view is very clear: the only reason there are that many policies is to confuse the customer. There should not be more than ten different policies to allow people to compare like with like and make an informed decision. I will be encouraging the HIA to examine that.

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