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

To respond to Deputy Kelly's other questions, the Government accepts the de Buitléir report. It is Government policy to remove private practice from public hospitals but, having read the report, everyone will understand the difficulties and costs associated with its delivery. It will cost €600 million a year, or €6 billion over ten years, three times the cost of the children's hospital. It is already the case that private practice in public hospitals is going down. It is now down to about 15%. Having read the report, the Deputy will understand the complications in delivering this, how much it will cost and how many years it will take to do it.

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