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

It has been the case for a very long in Ireland that when it comes to the reimbursement of new medicines the private system follows the public system and the private sector and health insurers only cover the cost of new medicines after the public system has decided to cover them for public patients. This is a new development. It is certainly not a welcome development. We are analysing what we can do about it. It is difficult to know what we can do about it because we cannot have a situation whereby the private sector and private health insurers are deciding for the State which medicines it should or should not reimburse. At the same time, is it really feasible for us to ban or prohibit the private system and private insurers from offering treatments to their own patients? It is a difficult one to deal with it. I know the Deputy's preference would be to abolish private health insurance and private medicine. I do not think we would go that far but we need to examine it and try to come up with a solution.

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