Seanad debates

Thursday, 31 January 2013

10:30 am

Photo of Sean BarrettSean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Governor of the Central Bank recently appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and although it was not widely reported he told us that the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority has begun work to become the regulator of the health insurance sector, which is to comply - rather belatedly - with a decision of the European Court. It is an important development that the Minister for Health should not be head of a Department that owns a health insurance company and the regulator at the same time, and I welcome it. It is necessary because there are still reports of people being charged ยค3,000 a night for bed and breakfast in some hospitals.

We need a properly regulated, competitive health insurance sector.

Otherwise, as Ms Kathleen O'Meara states in today's newspapers, the health insurance sector will collapse under excess costs and premiums which seem would seem to rise on an hourly basis.

The ESRI report today states that growth will be reduced and this will cause budgetary problems for the Government and, of course, for both Houses of the Oireachtas because harder choices will have to be made. It is regrettable that a number of years ago the ESRI abolished the policy-independent sections of the same quarterly economic commentary because there was fear that those who did not like them might sue the institute. That is a great pity. We need that kind of research. In fact, this House yesterday, thanks to the initiatives of Senators Norris and Quinn, had a wonderful debate on fluoridation of water with Senators on both sides. Nobody will be sued, nobody was called upon to resign and we learned a great deal from the debate. I hope that the ESRI will not only say to the Government policy decisions will be a little more difficult but will revive a forum in which persons wrote learned refereed articles on precisely the same policy decisions.

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