Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

With regard to section 16, it should be borne in mind that many private hospitals which benefit from these tax exemptions are not very profitable at present. They are not in a great financial state. This issue needs to be examined in the context of restricting the number of people with medical cards and people not paying for private health insurance because of what the Government plans to do in the new year and what is happening in the economy. Senator Doherty and I may not come from the same side of the coin ideologically but I do not like to see tax exemptions wasted on white elephant projects throughout the country. The Government needs to be careful and this should be re-examined in light of what is happening.