Almost half the population of the Republic currently has some form of private health insurance and it is difficult to see how the advantages this currently confers, notwithstanding manifestly over-priced prescription medicines, will easily be replaced by a one-size-fits-all system.

Watching how this pans out over the next 18 months before the nation has to go to the polls promises to be one of the more entertaining aspects of debate on the campaign trail and one that has a significant bearing on how the circle must be squared if a united Ireland is ever to be given meaningful consideration, a prospect dampened by British premier-in-waiting Keir Starmer this week.

Further mood music and pre-conditioning of public expectations took place on Thursday when we were briefed that heavy cuts may be required in order to claw back some of the €1.1bn overspend in health provision. Management posts will not now be filled, and desired initiatives, such as the provision of free contraception to those aged over 30, may be put on ice.

It is true that most citizens would rather see a concerted effort to reduce the number of patients waiting on hospital trollies than priority given to placing administrative bums on chairs — almost a third of workers hired by the HSE since 2019 fall into this (non-frontline) category. HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster, who is trying to explain why health finances remain in the red despite billions of euro in increased funding in recent years, might do himself a favour in explaining what those jobs are, and why they are necessary.

A HSE audit of consultants’ pay found allowances, including overtime and on-call hours, can “significantly increase total remuneration above basic pay”. An estimated 900 consultant posts are vacant or filled temporarily. The highest-paid consultant earned €974,000 last year. While Mr Gloster said he did not “accept that €900,000 is a fully essential payment” for consultants under current circumstances this seems a topical example of the laws of supply and demand in operation.

We should remember that, to establish the UK’s health service, the responsible minister, Aneurin Bevan, said he had to “stuff the doctors’ mouths with gold”. In the meantime, we may learn some other useful lessons from a timely piece of research and oral history that charts the highly significant contribution of Irish people to the creation of the NHS.

‘Irish Nurses in the NHS’ is a project led by Louise Ryan, who graduated from the sociology department at University College Cork (UCC) in 1992 and who is returning to UCC as a visiting professor on study leave from her current role at London Metropolitan University.

Prof Ryan and a colleague, Grainne McPolin, a radio producer and former nurse, have carried out extensive interviews for more than a dozen 30-minute podcasts and will be providing detailed stories around key themes in a book due to be published next year. A free 90-minute online presentation of some of their findings is being organised by the Royal College of Nursing Library & Archives next Thursday.

Slap on the wrist for Keegan after remarks

It was inevitable that someone would blunder into the debate about the rapid increase in female pundits commentating on live sport, and that it would be sooner rather than later. This time it is the old pro and former England manager Kevin Keegan who is on the naughty step.

Keegan, 72, told an audience at one of his peripatetic live shows that he had a “problem” with “an England lady footballer” giving their opinions on men’s football. With a nod to understatement, he acknowledged that “it may not be a view shared” but that he didn’t like “ladies talking about the England men’s team at the match because I don’t think it’s the same experience”.

He now stands accused of being “a dinosaur” for “archaic, nonsensical, and uneducated” comments, with the charity Women in Football accusing him of “gender apartheid” and linking his attitude to the case of Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish football federation who resigned his post after kissing Jennifer Hermoso during Women’s World Cup final celebrations.

Keegan probably regrets his off-the-cuff remarks. But the episode illustrates, once again, the dangers of speaking without thinking in a world of instant reaction.