With the current problem of lengthy hospital waiting lists in Ireland, many patients are opting to go to other parts of the EU for medical procedures.
Under the European Cross Border Healthcare Directive, patients are entitled to have these procedures paid for by the HSE.
However, Dr. Ruairi Hanley has another case to argue for: why doesn't the HSE instead take advantage of the private hospitals which are available to help patients?
"On paper this sounds like an amazing thing, but it's the follow-up I would be concerned about as a GP. If there are complications, who follows them up? That's the big question."
"We have a thriving private medicine sector in Ireland. At the moment we're pumping money out of the country - I think we need to pump money into Ireland instead of sending people overseas."
