An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-09
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Linda Nelson Murray (FG), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I would liek to bring up the subject of health insurance. There was a net increase of over 13,000 people in the number of people who acquired health insurance in the third quarter, according to Health Insurance Ireland. There are now 2.54 million people in Ireland with health coverage, which seems like a massive number. About 10% to 12% of people in the UK have health insurance. The average premium here increased by €56 quarter on quarter from €1,830 to €1,886 as several insurers increased the price of their plans. VHI increased by 3%, Laya by 4.5% and Irish Life Health by 3%. Irish Life Health has stated it will increase its prices again by 5% in January. The health insurance levy unfortunately will also be increased this year. This is like the stamp duty that helps fund the community rating system. It allows younger people to help pay for older people. Regarding competition in the market, there does seem to be a lot of companies here offering health insurance. There are only four or five companies. Like all types of insurance, having more competition helps the price pressure, product differentiation, quality of service, innovative plans, market entry and exit, risk pooling and negotiation power. I would like the Leader to establish from the Department of Health what it is actively doing to ensure more competition in the market.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:26+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-09