Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. Clearly, there is a huge crisis for the health insurance market and it is deepening by the day, if not by the hour. I first started thinking about health insurance when I got married in 1984. I started my family and established a business. When health insurance products first come onto the market, I welcome them with open arms. I do not dismiss those who cannot afford private health insurance but there is some comfort to be gained from having it.

This issue has been abused and hijacked over the years. There was a problem in the insurance industry due to spurious claims being made. I recall seeing a television advertisement by the insurance companies which described how a person named John, played by an actor, had an accident and decided to claim. The advertisement showed him putting his hand in everybody else's pocket. Many people have their hands in pockets with regard to the costs of the insurance industry. That is unacceptable. I recall being quite ill in hospital on one occasion. I received the best of care at Shanakiel Hospital, which has since closed, in Deputy Kelleher's city of Cork. On the morning I was due to leave, a little envelope was slipped under my tea and toast. It contained a hefty bill in respect of the cost of a private ambulance to take me from one hospital to another.

I could have walked from Shanakiel Hospital across to the regional hospital but I could not walk back because I was under anaesthetic. I could nearly have bought the ambulance for the amount I was charged. This is happening and it is being highjacked. I am aware that medical professionals are bound by the Hippocratic oath. I sympathise with medical staff in the hospitals, for example, those involved in the tragic case of Savita Halappanavar. I know a full investigation into this case is ongoing. Accidents will and do happen. The private costs are spiralling out of control and the charges are being heaped on. I profoundly object to people who might be in difficult situations or who might be very ill entering accident and emergency departments and having forms shoved in front of them and being asked to sign in order to show that they are private patients. The Minister looks perplexed but he knows this is happening all the time.

See this speech in context