Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I diverted from the recommendation and spoke about the section. What is the Minister's view on the actual recommendation that he would effectively index link the tax credit in line with medical inflation? I do not mean purely medical health insurance premiums; I am talking about medical costs. That can be done because it is in the basket for inflation. This would be a way to recognise the fact that all medical costs have gone up. I agree with the Minister that the private health insurance companies need to look at their own costs and charges. However, pressure is being put on that sector by the Minister for Health as a result of a number of initiatives he has taken, including further increasing the stamp duty and the additional charges for beds and so on.

If it continues like this, with no certainty in the market, providers will leave. Medical health insurance companies will be put out of this country. We will be then left with the VHI.

I have no idea where the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, is going with his universal health care plans. No-one knows. I have consistently asked for debates on that issue in the House. If this could be put in the context of the Minister's plan, it might be possible to argue that we do not need private health insurers in the long run but it is not clear to me what he intends to do. The bottom line is that we can argue about figures as much as we like but a sizeable chunk of the population have been negatively affected by this measure. I expect it to be counterproductive in the sense that it will push a lot of people out of private health insurance.

To pull back from the section and deal specifically with the recommendation, does the Minister accept that there is some validity in it? Will he consider it?