Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I agree with much of what has been said. First, I agree that everybody should have access to health care on the basis of medical need. Everybody in Ireland has universal coverage, which was not the case when the VHI was established 50 years ago. Everybody in Ireland is entitled to universal coverage in our hospital system.

The problem is that our public hospitals are a hive of private activity. Approximately 20% of the beds are ring-fenced for private patients. Consultants, with the exception of accident and emergency consultants, get a fee for everybody who goes into hospital, regardless what bed patients occupy. It is an extraordinary system. Even pathologists and radiologists who treat accident and emergency cases get a private fee from the insurers for reading the tests.