Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Our clear goal is universal healthcare. One of the three pillars of universal healthcare is that it is affordable, so a lot of what we are doing is trying to make sure that people can access care quickly, that it is great care when they get it and that they can afford it. Any debate like this is very important to constantly reviewing and finding those patients who find themselves outside of the various criteria. It is usually by a small amount but it still causes a lot of hardship. The measures we have brought in will help. We have abolished inpatient hospital charges. They were costing families up to €800 a year We have just funded free HRT. One lady yesterday in Wicklow told me she is spending €1,000 a year on HRT. We are funding IVF. Couples were spending €7,000, €8,000, €9,000, €10,000 or €12,000 on IVF. We have brought the drug payments scheme threshold down to €80 a month. We have brought in free contraception. We have rolled out eligibility for another 500,000 people to get free GP care. What we must constantly do is identify the people whose cases the Deputies raise today to ask who are the people who still cannot afford the healthcare they need. We must constantly review our eligibility to support them.

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