Paul Bradford (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support Senator Feargal Quinn with regard to queries about Russian adoptions. I am aware of one case where the family involved is under extraordinary stress. If anything could be done from a legislative perspective - even at this late stage - it would be extremely useful. The clock is certainly ticking and we must use every possible parliamentary device to try to find a solution to this problem.

Senator Darragh O'Brien referred to health insurance. I appreciate that we will be able to address the tax relief issue in this regard in the debate on the Finance Bill. What is required - I have called for this on previous occasions - is a debate on the broader matter of health insurance. There is an aspiration that universal health insurance will be introduced at some point in the next number of years. If health insurance premia and medical costs continue to increase at the rate at which they have been rising in the past four or five years, it will be impossible to have a sustainable system of universal health insurance. We listened, almost until we became weary, to the argument to the effect that we should follow the Dutch health insurance model. I invite colleagues to examine what is happening in the Netherlands, where the system of health insurance is literally being dismantled because it is not affordable. We need to address in a mature fashion the matter of where we intend to go in the context of health insurance. The concept of a universal health insurance scheme sounds very nice when presented to a focus group. However, as we discovered recently in respect of another issue that was addressed via a focus group, the reality can be very different. I reiterate for the benefit of Senator Darragh O'Brien that we will have the opportunity to discuss the tax relief issue relating to health insurance during the debate on the Finance Bill.

We need to address the bigger issue of the cost of health insurance and the possibility, or otherwise, of having a universal system.