The new Minister for Health has cast doubt over plans for Universal Health Insurance, saying he still needs to get to grips with his portfolio.
Leo Varadkar said he will need to research the idea before he can say for sure whether he still supports it.
Plans to introduce compulsory health insurance were a cornerstone of the previous minister, James Reilly.
But at the MacGill Summer School last night, Minister Varadkar said he was too new in the job to confirm if he'd keep those plans:
"I'm still trying to get my head around health at the moment - I'm going to spend this month meeting everyone and the major stakeholders, and probably a few weeks thinking about it," he said.
"Maybe in September, I'll have clearer answers for you."