Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to have the opportunity to speak on the Bill. I thank the Minister for signing off on the legislation for medicinal cannabis and I am delighted to hear that Vera Twomey and her daughter Ava will be returning home from Holland to Macroom for Christmas. I hope other sufferers will benefit from the medicinal cannabis in future and that unnecessary delays can be avoided.

I have spoken many times on the issues of health, health insurance and the two-tier system that exists in this country. In recent weeks, I have raised the cross-border health care directive and the ability of people in the Republic experiencing long delays in the health system to avail of medical procedures in the North or in other EU countries. This directive refunds patients who cannot afford insurance, meaning that hip operations, cataracts, and other procedures do not cost Irish patients a cent. However, because of the endless failings of the HSE and their waiting lists, many Irish patients have been forced to pay for private health insurance to get their operations completed urgently but they do not receive any compensation. As Deputy Kelleher stated, and he is completely right, it is an appalling situation for Ministers to be handing out leaflets telling people they can go for operations abroad. That is a failure of our system. It is disappointing that I have to point people who are in need of cataract, hip and knee operations towards Northern Ireland. It is a failure for me and for any Minister to advise people to travel to the North in order to have operations. A constituent recently contacted me in tears after hearing about the cross-border directive. The person had waited for years for a hip replacement on the HSE public waiting list but, due to the enormous levels of pain she experienced, she was forced to pay close to €15,000 to get the operation done under private health insurance. It was €15,000 she did not have to spare and she was heartbroken to learn she could have availed of it for free under the directive. This is another example of the two-tier system that operates in this country.

Last week on "RTÉ Investigates" we saw how one poor lady was forced to sell her jewellery to have her procedures performed under private health insurance. That is not good enough. The biggest reason for the two-tier system is the incompetence of the HSE. There should not be a need for people to avail of private health care when we have a public system.

I welcome the Bill and am happy to support it because I believe the risk equalisation mechanism is very important to prevent ill or older people from paying huge premiums to health insurers. People should not feel forced into paying for private health insurance, which adds extra stress to their unfortunate health issues. There is a need for stricter regulations on private health insurance. Insurers are happy to put extras on bills for the simplest of reasons. They can totally exploit their customers and take advantage of the fact that they require urgent treatment and are in poor health. That is not good enough. As with the motor insurance industry, I favour the introduction of legislation to place stricter limits on the private health insurance sector.

On a semi-related matter, yesterday I met a group of parents and children, as many other Deputies did, who suffer from MPS. MPS is a rare genetic disorder and, Vimizin, the necessary medication for these patients, is not supported by the HSE and is currently only offered on a trial basis. Not even private health care can help these patients and I ask that the Minister approve funding for it as soon as possible. The drug is made in Cork but is not available for patients in Ireland. Pharmaceutical companies must take responsibility for their greed in the context of the prices they charge. We were able to help patients who needed Orkambi, so I plead with the Minister to do the same in this instance.

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