Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is clear from that reply that UHI has been parked, but can the Minister talk about universal health care? The central policy is the introduction of UHI. It is evident from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and others bodies, including the Health Insurance Authority and those providing cover in the marketplace, that this will increase the cost to ordinary families. It will not be progressive. Middle-income families will have to pay extraordinary sums of money for compulsory health insurance if it goes ahead as envisaged by the previous incumbent and the proposals published in the White Paper. I am beginning to wonder if this is an election ploy, because the Minister knows he is in a cul-de-sac when it comes to the funding of the health services, and that UHI will be a major financial burden on middle-income families. He is slowly trying to let this policy wither and die. It is evident from the Minister's answer that there is no commitment to UHI. Will he not do the decent thing now and say that he is parking UHI and examining other options with regard to the provision of universal health care, which is fundamentally different from UHI?

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