Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I join Deputy Bennett in calling on the Minister of State to look at Deputy Cullinane's straightforward amendment. We all are aware of the issue with rising insurance costs. It is no shock that this arises not only with public liability and motor insurance but also health insurance. A lot of people feel they have no choice but to take out insurance because of deficiencies in the health system. We need to see that amendment passed. We need a report and to see the ins and outs of what can only be called gouging and profiteering off the backs of people who see that they have absolutely no choice but to take out insurance. I call on the Government to come to a moment of clarity on this issue and to take the necessary action.

We will support the legislation because we accept the reality that people are forced to take out private health insurance. It tells us all we need to know about what is wrong with the two-tier system. As Deputy Cullinane said, we welcome the removal of private healthcare from public hospitals, the need for which we have pointed to for a long time. We need to see that done and we must ensure the public system gets the maximum capacity. Deputy Cullinane spoke about the huge issue of the 300,000 people in the public system waiting for scans and procedures, with more than 40,000 waiting over 18 months.

I have raised the need for a clinical specialist sonographer in Louth County Hospital. I have had some answers and promises from the HSE regarding the filling of that position and the delivery of the service into the future but I am not absolutely sure there is definitive surety around it. Having spoken to some people within the hospital setting, the situation is that the only person who had been working full time on ultrasounds is no longer there. We can all imagine how that impacts on capacity. Luckily enough, and with thanks to the Ceann Comhairle's office, I have been approved to raise this as a Topical Issue tomorrow, when I will follow up on it. I hope finally to get a definitive answer rather than an answer that looks definitive but anybody who knows anything will say is far from it.

Unfortunately, this is all the one particular issue. We are talking about delivering a decent public health system, no longer having a two-tier system and bringing public capacity up to the absolute maximum. It will come as a shock to nobody here that I deal with a considerable number of people in my constituency office who are facing issues that should be dealt with, in a proper system, in elective hospitals. This could be anything from cataracts to knee and hip replacements. If not for the cross-border health directive, we would be in a really critical situation. The system is just not good enough. We need a system that provides not bang for buck for private hospitals, no matter where they are situated, but bang for buck for the Irish taxpayer and, beyond that, for the citizens who require healthcare.

I cannot let the opportunity pass to refer to Michael Shine and the dreadful crimes he committed against a huge number of people over a long period. It is a cause for hope that there has been engagement, as we urged for many years, with Dignity4Patients, which is currently briefing its members. It is absolutely frightening that we are looking at numbers upwards of 390 to 400. It should not be a big shock when we consider that Michael Shine operated in a position of power for more than 30 years. Many questions will have to be answered. The scoping exercise must identify the best way to find out the detail and knowledge that are out there and to ensure this leads to a full statutory inquiry that can provide answers for the people who have been through an absolute nightmare at the hands of a paedophile. The issues were brought to the attention of the powers that be for far too long without being dealt with.

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