Bupa says it would welcome fresh talks

Bupa Ireland says that it will consider any proposal from the Government on risk equalisation that would allow it to meet its solvency requirements and to make a modest return.

However, after a day of speculation that there could be new talks on a deal to allow Bupa to remain in the Irish private health insurance market, both sides said last night that there had been no change in the existing positions.

A spokeswoman for Bupa said that the company would consider any proposal put to it by the Government. However, she said there had been no contact since it announced last Thursday that it was not accept any further business and would withdraw from Ireland by 2008.

Minister for Health Mary Harney welcomed Bupa's comments and said she would like it to remain a competitor in the market. She insisted, however, that it would have to be on the basis of community rating and risk equalisation, but she was "not certain that Bupa is committed to risk equalisation".

Ms Harney said Bupa was making 18 per cent to 25 per cent return in the Irish market and 5 per cent to 6 per cent in Britain.

She said that with a different business model, the insurer could continue with a return similar to that which it achieved in Britain. "My door and the Government's door is always open," she said.

However, the Department of Health said earlier that there had been no contact between the Government and Bupa in recent days and there had been no change in the Government's position.

A spokesman said there had been a "long engagement" on the issue between Government officials and Bupa in the run-up to the company's announcement last Thursday and that the Government was still considering the detailed High Court judgment on risk equalisation, which was published last Friday.

Minister for Enterprise and Employment Micheál Martin, met Bupa staff representatives and local politicians yesterday to discuss the possible loss of 300 jobs at the company's headquarters in Fermoy, Co Cork. He said he would be "relaying back to Government" the concerns of staff.

Bupa and the Department of Health held several days of discussions in the wake of the High Court judgment last month that rejected the company's challenge to the legality of the Government's risk equalisation scheme.

In the talks, Bupa accepted it could make some risk equalisation payments, provided they were "proportionate".

The company put forward a number of proposals to amend the operation of the scheme in a way that would reduce its financial liabilities under the scheme.

The Department of Health proposed that phasing in risk-equalisation payments could be extended for a further period. However, neither set of proposals proved acceptable to the other side. The company has maintained that its risk equalisation liabilities were growing by €1 million a week.