There will be a 9 per cent increase in the charges for private and semi-private accommodation in public hospitals from January 1st next year, the Dail was told during health questions.

The Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, said it was a matter for each individual health insurance company to determine whether there should be any premium increases.

During sharp exchanges with the Fine Gael health spokesman, Mr Alan Shatter, Mr Cowen said he was not prepared to see the taxpayer subsidising the cost of public beds for private patients.

Mr Cowen said he had advised the VHI and BUPA in informal discussions earlier this year that it would be prudent for them to incorporate in their financial plans the likelihood of an increase of this order.

He said the VHI had increased its premiums by 9 per cent in September, 2 per cent of which was attributable to the January 1999 increases in private bed accommodation.

Mr Shatter said that if the Minister continued to increase the cost of private beds in public hospitals, there was a risk that it would put the cost of health insurance beyond the reach of young couples who were already struggling to make mortgage repayments.

Mr Cowen asked: "Is the deputy in favour of a subsidy by the taxpayer at the expense of public patients, where private patients are using public hospital beds? As a matter of social justice I do not believe that is a tenable situation." The Minister added: "So far as I am concerned, I have no apology to make in seeking to insist that the taxpayer and the public patient get a fair crack of the whip".

Earlier, Mr Cowen told deputies that the number of hospital beds closed for 1998 was expected to be 90,398 bed days. So far this year there had been 74,379 bed closures. This was less than 2.5 per cent of the total number of bed days available in the health system, he added.

"The figure represents an average monthly number of beds temporarily closed of 207, or almost 1.7 per cent of the total number of 12,267 acute hospital beds available nationally."

He told Labour's health spokeswoman, Ms Roisin Shortall, that he was working on a memorandum for Government to provide a greater level of resources across a whole range of areas. "This will compare favourably with what was done by the former minister supported by the deputy," he said.

"The Minister's reply is no consolation to the 34,000 people now on hospital waiting lists," Ms Shortall said.