Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Yes, the people intervened.

There was a lack of regulation, transparency and accountability which has nothing to do with the current Minister. On the other hand, we all know that if one goes into a private hospital and one has reasonable VHI cover, there is an argument as to whether 90% of the tests, each of which commands a small fee from the health insurance agency, is necessary. There is a need here for medical accountability to justify that.

Judging from the Minister's contribution and some unstated issues, the competition route is consuming a disproportionate amount of his time. Grappling with risk equalisation is taking up someone's time to judge by the toing and froing to the EU—