Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Question 530: To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that increasing costs of private health insurance is now a major concern for multi-national corporations and has the potential to negatively impact future foreign direct investment decisions and job creation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30329/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I am not aware of any specific concerns raised by multinational corporations regarding the cost of private health insurance in this country being a significant factor for consideration when making foreign direct investment decisions. It is my understanding that the Deputy may be referring to any companies which pay health insurance premiums on behalf of employees, as an additional employment benefit. I refer the Deputy to a recent national consumer survey of the private health insurance market in Ireland commissioned by the Health Insurance Authority, a statutory regulator of the health insurance market in Ireland. The survey included an analysis of the effects of the economic environment on the attitudes and behaviour of consumers of private health insurance, part of which examined the issue of employer subscriptions.

The survey found that eighteen percent of Irish businesses operate an employee health insurance scheme and that the sectoral profile of those businesses is similar to the overall sectoral breakdown of businesses in Ireland. It can be noted from the survey that two in three companies review the provision of employee private health insurance yearly, or more often, and that three in four companies intend to keep private health insurance subsidies the same. In addition, the level of subsidy has been increased by 19 percent of companies in the past two years, with almost seven in ten companies stating that they have kept subsidies the same over the past two years. This suggests a high level of stability from the employers' viewpoint concerning the provision of employee private health insurance schemes.

It is also worth noting from the survey that the vast majority of companies intend maintaining the current private health insurance scheme for the considerable future.