Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support the amendment. One would almost need a PhD in mathematics to be able to make sense of the current health insurance market, because the plans are so complicated. I refer to the complexity of the differentials between the plans, the add-ons that are added on, the take-offs that are taken off, etc. What Senator Devine is putting forward is very much in favour of the consumer buying the insurance, because it is very difficult for anybody to compare plans and costs. Senator Devine is putting forward the case that if the equalisation fund is used in such a way as to make sure that there is balance, so that people who are older or at greater health risk are covered, that is fair enough. However, we do not want to see premiums sneaking upwards in a crafty way, by a small add-on here or there, to ensure that the credits are subsumed into the company's profits and it is the consumers who pay that little bit extra at the end of the day.

I understand what Senator Burke is calling for, namely, that we should leave it to the open market, but we have left it to the open market in many other areas. Some of the companies in the insurance area, in the car insurance market for example, are absolutely fleecing people when they can get away with it. We have seen that regulation is practically useless in that scenario, and no amount of Government finger-wagging or telling the insurers that this is bad and it should stop has actually alleviated the situation. We find a similar situation in health insurance for returning emigrants. I deal with a lot of spokespersons for the diaspora who tell me that one of their main barriers to coming home is the cost of health insurance. The irony is that some of these people are insured with the same company in a different jurisdiction, but when they come back here, their no-claims bonus or their track record with that company is not taken into consideration.

We believe that we cannot trust the companies or the market here. What we are trying to do is look after the patients in this scenario, or customers, as the companies see them, and make sure that it is a level playing-field. If the equalisation fund is being used in a proper manner, to make sure that people across the board can get health insurance, then we should put every safeguard in place to make sure that the companies cannot subsume those moneys into their own profit margins by some stealth method. Go raibh maith agat.