asked the Minister for Health if manual workers earning in excess of £5,000 per annum will lose eligibility for the refund of maternity and other costs under the terms of the proposed revised health scheme.

Under the proposed changes in eligibility any person whose income is over the limit of £5,000 per annum will be responsible for paying the doctors concerned for whatever services they provide. This includes medical fees for maternity services. His or her entitlement to services will not otherwise be affected.

I should add that in the light of the proposed changes the Voluntary Health Insurance Board have agreed to include in their scheme a substantial provision for maternity care. The details have not yet been fully settled but the board will give adequate notice of their proposals.

The Deputy may have in mind specifically the subsidy which is paid by health boards towards the cost of private or semi-private accommodation in hospitals and nursing homes. Under the revised arrangements everybody, irrespective of income, will be entitled to this.

Is it not a fact that manual workers who are covered at present for in-patient maternity services and consultants' costs will lose their eligibility for those services under the proposed new scheme?

Some will. Some workers who are at present entitled to limited eligibility, if their income exceeds £5,000 per annum or whatever the limit may be fixed at, will lose the benefit of consultants' fees on the one hand and maternity benefit on the other. We are making very adequate provision for those people under the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme. The Deputy will understand there has to be a break-off point somewhere. I think everyone in the House agreed that the old system was entirely unsatisfactory and gave rise to enormous difficulties in administration and discontent among the general public. Therefore, we had to have some clear line of demarcation and £5,000 a year is a reasonably generous level. It is one and a half times the latest published average industrial earnings figure, and it will be reviewed again before the scheme comes into operation finally on 5 April.

Manual workers, mainly skilled workers, earning over £5,000 a year will be asked to pay almost twice what they are paying at present and will lose the benefit of eligibility for consultants' and maternity services.

That is not the position. We hope under the new Voluntary Health Insurance arrangements to make adequate provision for them to enable them to cover themselves for consultants' fees and maternity benefit at negligible cost to themselves.

Under the terms of the so-called comprehensive scheme the Minister announced, will they not lose those benefits?

As I said before, we will have an opportunity to discuss all these things when the legislation comes before the House.

The answer is very simple: yes or no?