Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister back to the House again today. I welcome this detailed technical Bill. As has been pointed out, the VHI has been a part of the lives of most of us. The company is 50 years old and it has served us well.

This Bill had to be introduced for the purpose of bringing the VHI in line with its competitors in this country — Quinn Healthcare and VIVAS Health — in terms of the level of reserve necessary for it to achieve authorisation as an insurer. As the Minister pointed out, the VHI has very high reserves of €292 million. This level of reserves is above the EU minimum requirement but falls short, by €140 million, of the levels of established insurers with premium and claim experience such as the VHI would have. As we know, it falls a long way short of what is required by the Financial Regulator.

The purpose of the Bill is also to provide a structure which gives the VHI commercial freedom on products and pricing. It is apt that the Bill comes at this time, as we all know the VHI had a monopoly up until seven or eight years ago in the area of health insurance. It is about time the VHI had the freedom to engage in other activities. One need only look at the level of advertising in the health care area. We have got to a stage, not quite of yellow pack as we would have known it but of buy two and get one free. Quinn Healthcare, in its radio advertisements, states that if one transfers one's VHI health insurance Plan B for two adults and two children as well as one's house insurance or motor insurance, it will provide free house insurance to the value of €300 or €400. The time is right in that if the VHI were not given the freedom to come into a market such as we are experiencing with Quinn Healthcare and with VIVAS Health, there is no way it would survive. I am glad to see that change being introduced.

This is a good Bill in that it provides that the VHI board may raise or borrow money with no cost to the Exchequer. There is no limit on the borrowings it may raise for the purpose of attaining authorisation. However, there is a limit on borrowings for day-to-day running or for the new products in which it may engage. It will not exceed 10% of the previous year's charges.

I am pleased to note the Minister's view that the decision on product and pricing is clearly a matter for the board, who are the people best placed to make that decision. Owing to the rate of change in the market, consumers can be assured that their best interests will be taken care of. The VHI, no more than Quinn Healthcare or VIVAS Health, cannot go on solo runs because if it does and it charges fees above those of its competitors, it will lose its share of the market.

I have some concerns. I would like to see the debate opening up and to see where it will go. A colleague told me yesterday that he went with a sore shoulder to the Beacon Clinic where he thought he would be covered by the VHI. The Beacon Clinic would not accept VHI cover or Quinn Healthcare cover, but would accept VIVAS Health cover, and he was told he would have to pay cash for the treatment.

On the other hand, we hear the complaints of people who have gone to the SwiftCare Clinic to be treated for a minor injury and who have taken their X-rays or notes to a hospital for further treatment only to find that the consultant does not recognise what has been done by the SwiftCare Clinic. There are discrepancies in what is occurring. There is much time and money wasting and perhaps now is the time for us to address those issues. People with private health insurance who go to hospital for minor procedures are required to be there at 4 p.m. Their blood pressure might be taken at 6 p.m. and they would not see anybody else until 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. the following morning. These people are taking up hospital beds, which, as the Minister pointed out yesterday, are the most expensive beds in the city. The Minister suggested that getting a suite in one of the best hotels would not be as expensive as a hospital bed. I would welcome an examination of all these issues.