Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House as always. The new section 53C(4)(b), inserted by section 12, states that "the Minister shall ensure that the amount prescribed does not exceed the amount which is 25 per cent of the average daily cost of providing acute in-patient services to a patient." Presumably that is where the €80 charge came from and the cost of €320. However, there is no number remotely near €320 in Schedule 1 although there is reference to the product being sold on for €1,122, €860 or €730 and so on. I appreciate that the Minister of State has said that this will put controls on the ability of the Minister for Health to charge, but it is the type of charging policy that is far above what is specified in the legislation. A charge of €80 is 25% of the cost but we are charging 14 times the cost. That sounds rather like exploitation, to put it mildly. The problem is that the section does not distinguish between a citizen of the country who has paid his taxes and a passing martian who has health insurance. The HSE could charge him €1,400 per day, and to say that the €80 charge is one quarter of the cost and then charge a person €1,122 sounds rather extortionate. It is a strange provision. The give-away is in the end of the explanatory memorandum. It refers to the object of raising €120 million rather than any interest in issues of efficiency or equity.