Dáil debates

Friday, 1 July 2022

Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Second Stage

 

3:20 pm

Photo of Gino KennyGino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

People Before Profit welcomes this Bill. It is quite progressive, as is the contraception scheme. Outpatient charges are not conducive to Sláintecare whatsoever. I think the Minister would agree with that. Most people listening will be asking themselves why we pay inpatient charges in the first place. This is welcome but there is a long way still to go. Children who attend the emergency department will still be charged €100 for every visit if they do not have a medical card. That is not progressive. The charges will also still exist for inpatients. Those inpatient charges can be a financial burden on those who have to visit hospital on numerous occasions. That is not conducive to the Sláintecare policy.

There is a juxtaposition between outpatient and inpatient charges and debt collection. In the past three years, the HSE paid €1.3 million to debt collectors. That is an incredible statistic. The HSE paid all that money over the past number of years to debt collectors to chase people up because they had not paid their charges. That is a complete waste of money. That money could easily have been spent on healthcare and on people presenting themselves in emergency departments.

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