Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for the proposed amendment. The issue of reducing private income in public hospitals is one on which he and I agree. Indeed, we discussed it during the recent debate on the Estimates at the Oireachtas select committee. It is particularly pertinent given that this is the year it really kicks in. We have reached a critical mass of consultants on the public-only consultant contract and this is the year we expect to see it in our figures. We had a good discussion about that in the context of the Estimates. I do not expect this to be a recurring issue of the same magnitude. It is an issue this year and that is essentially banked into our figures for the future. It is very important we understand that, keep that on track and keep the measure to remove private activity from public hospitals insofar as possible. We have more work to do on that yet, and I look forward to working on that with the Deputy.

As regards the specifics of this legislation, this year's Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill does not directly relate to that. It is about risk equalisation credits and stamp duty levies for health insurance policies in Ireland. Its goal, the purpose of the Bill, is to adjust the risk equalisation scheme to reflect the yearly changes in the market. It is mostly a technical Bill and an annual Bill on that basis, keeping the scheme running smoothly. The Deputy's amendment deals with a different matter, which is very important but which is not the subject of this Bill. On that basis, I cannot accept the amendment, but we should be engaged on this subject on an ongoing basis at the committee. I refer to the impact of removing private activity from public hospitals, making sure the public funding is used for public provision but also understanding better how, with real delineation between public and private, we can better utilise private services in tandem with State services and how we understand the health market as a whole.

I cannot accept the amendment on this occasion, but the broader issue the Deputy raises is extremely important and will be the subject of our debate anyway.

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