The Health Minister Leo Varadkar is insisting that the public will not face any penalties if they do not take out private health insurance.

Mr Varadkar says the new Lifetime Community Rating system will subsidise care for older people, but says people will not be affected if they choose never to take out health insurance.

In response to written Dáil questions, he says people will still retain their right to use public hospitals - whether they have private health insurance or not.

But he says he will not back down from changes being introduced at the end of this month.

This will see people over the age of 34 pay an extra premium from May if taking out a policy for the first time.