James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 184: To ask the Minister for Health and Children, further to her statement in Dail Éireann on 10 March 2009, the amount that is spent on private health insurance, out of pocket medical expenses (details supplied) and health insurance provided by public employers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16263/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The OECD publication "Health at a Glance 2007" indicates that in the case of Ireland the proportion of total expenditure on health in 2005 between public and private was 78% public and 22% private. The cost of private expenditure on health care as described by the OECD is intended to represent private sources of funding on all health care, including out-of-pocket payments (both over-the-counter and cost sharing) and including expenses such as charges for doctors, dentists, opticians, prescribed medicines, hospital charges, together with private insurance programmes, charities and occupational health care. The private health insurance market in Ireland includes open membership undertakings such as VHI, Quinn Healthcare, Hibernian as well as restricted membership such as the ESB Staff Medical Provident Fund, St. Pauls Garda Medical Aid Society, Prison Officers Medical Aid Society, and others. There tends to be some delay in the availability of OECD figures. Accordingly, in order to come to a more recent estimate on a provisional basis the percentages referenced in the above OECD publication can be used together with the public funding provided for the Health Group of Votes, both current and capital, so as to estimate that the value of private expenditure on health care in 2009 may be in the region of €4 billion currently.