Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for bringing forward this Bill. It is brought forward annually and is about risk equalisation. The big challenges in this area are with the growing elderly population and making sure that they can get insurance in a fair and proper manner, and that it is not loaded because of their ageing. Risk equalisation and community rating make sure that there are no excessive charges for older people. It is interesting to see how, while there may be much criticism of our health service, the average life expectancy in Ireland has increased by seven years since 2000. That is a substantial change in a short time. It means we will have more people over 65 for whom risk equalisation kicks in. I am not sure what sort of challenges that will pose for the health insurance sector.

I received a letter from the Higher Education Colleges Association. I acknowledge it is not covered by this Bill but I feel it is important that I raise this matter. The letter related to international students being unable to get a visa to come here unless they have health insurance. The Higher Education Colleges Association is concerned that while some students were coming in on insurance that would normally cover visitors, that is now being changed. There was a High Court decision and a decision by the Court of Appeal was due yesterday about whether students would be classified as ordinarily resident. The court has ruled that once they are here as a student, they are deemed as ordinarily resident. I understand from the association that the cost of health insurance for them as a result of that court decision, though I am not sure what the Court of Appeal decision yesterday was, was approximately €450 per student, which put pressure on the colleges as they tried to attract people here. I have spoken to officials in the Department and know that they are working on the matter to have a half-way house to deal with this issue. These people will not be permanently here. On average, they stay here for a period of four years and I do not think they should be penalised excessively. It is about trying to find a middle ground or half-way house for the charge that is imposed on them. If they are going to be deemed to be ordinarily resident, we should put in place a mechanism so that if they stay here for just four years, they are not be penalised by the cost of insurance. It is important that people who are to be granted visas have health insurance before the visas are granted. I think we need to find a solution to this problem. I thank the Minister of State for bringing forward this Bill.