Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 6, as the Senator has indicated, would delete section 5(3) of the Bill. The purpose of the Health Identifiers Bill is to put in place a legislative framework for individual health identifiers. This is primarily a patient safety issue. Eligibility for health services is a separate, although important, issue and is provided for in other legislation as the Senator and the House will be aware. Section 5(3) was included in the Bill to make it clear that the assigning of an IHI to an individual shall not be regarded in any way as indicating an entitlement to or eligibility for the provision of health service to the individual.

In this context we must bear in mind that the IHI is an identifier which will apply throughout the health service, public and private. An IHI can also be assigned to anyone receiving a health service, whether or not the person is ordinarily resident in the State. I do not propose to accept the amendment in view of the purpose of the Bill and the intended use of the IHI across the health service. I hear what the Senator has said and I thank him for the support he, along with colleagues across the House, expressed for the Bill and its purpose on Second Stage. Senator Cullinane used the word "entitlement" which does not mean the same thing as eligibility, but I understand where he is coming from. He will accept that the questions of eligibility for health services, how they should be managed, how a resource should be distributed, and funding the health services through health insurance or by the Exchequer directly are all enormously important issues. The Senator rightly pointed to these issues in his contribution.

However, it is wrong to in any way seek to change this Bill, the purpose of which is a narrower objective which has to do with patient safety and which will give us an enormous resource - and I can see this in primary care - regarding the management of the health services properly for the whole population, across the board. It would be a pity if we were to try to import into this Bill the broader debate about eligibility which is covered in legislation such as the Health Act 1970, which we have discussed several times here regarding eligibility for medical cards. There is a broader debate to be had here. There is a draft White Paper on universal health insurance which is being discussed by the Government. It is intended to publish that White Paper in early course. It will give us an opportunity to have this broader debate that the Senator regards as important, and on which I agree with him. It would be a pity if we were to interfere with any of the provisions of this Bill which are somewhat more narrowly focused and which have a particular intent in mind. I ask the Senator to consider those observations.