Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I think this is my third time taking this Bill. It comes up every year. It is another reminder of what seems to be protection and favouring of private healthcare above all else. I know that people are afraid of entering the public system and being left to wait for months or years for treatment. Many scrape together to fund private healthcare but others simply cannot access the market. With each passing year, equity of access based on need is a missed opportunity that is detrimental to the nation's health.We all know the statistics.

Today, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, Trolley Watch measure shows there are 552 people on trolleys, which is a reduction from the all-time high reached last month. We know about the waiting lists, the cancelled operations, the cervical cancer scandal, etc. In the health landscape, there appears to be an increasing trend towards care being delivered through the private sector. This Bill does not change the role of the State as the ultimate guarantor of the realisation of our health rights and obligations, but it makes implementing that responsibility more difficult.

As I said, we deal with a version of the same Bill every year. It is about taking away the risk from insurance companies to equalise the risk for certain policyholders. Were the Government as quick to intervene in the market in other areas, we would have an improved country. We will support the passage of this Bill in order that older people and others are protected but we do so with serious reservations about our health service, which is buckling under the weight of demand. We point out that fear drives people to take out health insurance. Indeed, many patients lying or sitting comfortably in a hospital bed today, fast-tracked there via private health insurance, would acknowledge the inherent unfairness of private versus public provision. I have consistently urged the Minister, Deputy Harris, to ensure that this intervention is not used as an excuse to hike up insurance premiums. We know from the work of my colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty, that the Government has lost the reins when it comes to the insurance sector. We must not afford the industry the opportunity to increase premiums for health insurance customers. The social justice issue in respect of health insurance is not about equity of premium but, rather, inability to pay and a chaotic public service. That is what we should be discussing. The argument is that risk equalisation benefits the ordinary person who may be sicker or more at risk than his or her neighbour but we would not need this benefit if all our citizens had access to a properly-functioning public health system.

I understand the Minister, Deputy Harris, will make an announcement on Sláintecare and its implementation in the coming days. I hope that announcement will focus on actions that will result in the implementation of the recommendations set out in the programme.