Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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1814. To ask the Minister for Health her plans to deal with the exorbitant increases in health insurance premiums, as many policies have doubled in price in the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58674/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Minister for Health is responsible for the regulation of the private health insurance market in Ireland. This is a voluntary market, which operates under the principles of community rating, open enrolment, lifetime cover and minimum benefits.

Private Health Insurance companies operate as commercial entities in a competitive private health insurance market. Increases to premiums can be attributed to a range of factors, including medical inflation, demographic changes and increased utilisation of private healthcare services. Health insurance premium prices are generally based on the expected claims experience for the insurer for the next 12 months. Insurers make predictions based on their customer base and what services they will require in the coming year and price their premiums accordingly.

The Minister for Health does not have a role in the commercial decision-making of any private health insurer. Beyond prescribing the minimum level of coverage that health insurers must provide under the Minimum Benefit Regulations, the Minister is not in a position to direct how an insurer provides cover or at what price.