Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

What I have found really heartening about the current contest under way in my party is the number of people talking about ideas and the number of people talking about my ideas and who have read my paper.

I am very grateful that Deputy Willie O'Dea took the time out to do so. He asked a pertinent question. It is, of course, an ideas paper, which is what it says on the cover. It is not a manifesto. The kind of ideas I have in mind include the restoration of some of the other treatment benefits that were abolished in the past. For example, people had a grant-in-aid towards other dental treatments, such as fillings, which was very common in the past. Another idea is better parental leave, which I think we would all support provided the Social Insurance Fund can sustain it.

I have a particular issue with sick pay. People who are in the private sector at the moment have to be out sick for five days before they get any sick pay. If one is on a modest income and is a private sector worker, losing a week's pay when one is sick is a bad hit. It could be months before it is caught up on. One thing I would like to see considered, which is done in other countries, is people having some of their medical bills refunded through social insurance. In France, for example, if one goes to see the GP, one gets a certain amount back from its equivalent of the Social Insurance Fund. Those are the kinds of ideas I have in mind.

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