Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I contend that the insurance companies are being held to account. This is about risk equalisation. The money is not coming from the Department of Health or from Government expenditure. Rather, it is being charged to the general public through their payments.

I agree with my colleague that insurance companies should not be allowed to use this as a reason to increase premiums. However, there is competition out there, and we must be careful that any legislation is not in breach of the competition rules of the European Union. It is true that we need to protect the public. However, over the last 12 to 18 months, the number of people who are taking out private health insurance has increased by over 150,000. It is important that we have competition in the market. At one point we had only one insurer in real terms, now we have a number of them. No matter what regulation one brings in, competition is the only way of keeping prices down. It is important that we encourage that.