Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Amendments Nos. 4 to 8, inclusive and 16 relate to the deletion of section 18 and the Fourth Schedule of the Bill, and consequential amendments to delete the reference to the Seventh Schedule in section 13. These deletions were necessary following confirmation by Swinford District Hospital that it does not have any patients for whom charges payable in respect of inpatient services provided under section 55 of the Health Act 1970 apply. No other hospitals have been identified by the HSE as being in this category, reflecting a change in hospital activity over many decades whereby less complex and intrusive care is provided in local hospitals and units closer to the patient's community, and more complex care is provided in hospitals that are more appropriate in terms of specialities and quality and safety.

Amendments Nos. 11 to 15 were technical amendments relating to corrections to the names of Connolly hospital, Sligo General Hospital and St. Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny, and to the addition of Our Lady's Hospices in Blackrock and Harold's Cross, Peamount Hospital and St. Vincent's Hospital, Fairview, to the list of institutions that may apply the private inpatient charge.