Mary Moran (Labour)

I wish everybody here a happy international women's day. I offer my congratulations to Mr. Ron Cooney and those involved in the excellent showing of the programme, "Ballymun Lullaby" on television. The programme is an excellent example and it was proposed for an award. I refer to the teaching of music in disadvantaged areas and I commend the good this man has done in Ballymun.

I wish to raise the issue of private health insurance. I have been made aware of a family who were quoted a much cheaper premium from Aviva health insurance when changing from the VHI. Naturally, they took up the offer, on the presumption that they would receive the same benefits as they had from the VHI. All went fine and they were paying over €3,000 a year for this health insurance. However, a month ago, one of the children was hospitalised. The nearest hospital they could access for the required treatment was in Dublin even though they live in Dundalk. When they were advised to go to a specific hospital in Dublin, they discovered that despite having been promised last August that they had the same cover, they did not in fact have the same level of insurance cover, which in my view -----