Phil Prendergast (Labour)

Midwives rule. I would like a review of costings and how we fix prices. A 50% increase in six years is a massive one which impacts on people's ability to pay and denies people access to services.

Sometimes being in the VHI limits access to services for people who pay a premium for public services they might require, such as access to physiotherapy for chronic illnesses such as motor neurone disease or multiple sclerosis. Many people are disadvantaged in this way and they need universal cover. There is no element of bias. I never treated anybody differently because they had or did not have health insurance. Their clinical needs were what we dealt with and we did not concern ourselves with ability to pay, who a person was or where they lived. A thorough review is needed with regard to how price increases are determined, what we are paying for, how hospital stays are itemised, how we deliver the service and whether it is an efficient use of our time. I concur with Senator Quinn's analysis in this regard. Many aspects were raised during the debate and I am interested to hear the Minister's views.