The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, told the INO's conference that he would consider funding the State's increasing health bill by ring-fencing "1 to 2 per cent" of tax, specifically for care of the ageing.
Low rates of corporation tax had served the economy well in recent years, and there was a "need to proceed with caution" when it came to changing those rates, he said.
If Ireland was going to meet the costs and challenges of an ageing population, it had to meet this by thinking ahead. A switch from institutionalisation to home care was one of the measures he wanted to see.
Addressing the annual delegate conference of the Irish Nurses Organisation in Killarney, he said whichever funding system was agreed on in future, there would have to be a national strategic approach and it would have to be equitable not just to people, but to regions.
Mr Martin was taking part in a debate on funding the Irish health service with Opposition TDs Ms Liz McManus (Lab) and Ms Olivia Mitchell (FG), macro-economist Mr Jim Power and journalist Ms Maev-Ann Wren. The debate was chaired by Mr Fergal Bowers.
Ms Mitchell said Ireland was now at "a watershed" in terms of health provision funding. All income tax take, and 25 per cent of all Government spending already went on it yet for all the funding there was widespread dissatisfaction.
This could not be sustained and the State had to step back and allow more of an input by the market. "I am not saying health care can be left entirely to the market, but it is very important not to exclude the market," she said.
Ms McManus said there was something wrong when the private patient found the system and the service met their needs pretty well and the public patient experience was vastly different.
"Labour argues that the money should follow the patient, regardless of income," she said.
A trebling of spend in the health service, from €3.6 billion to over €10 billion now had not resulted in commensurate increase in quality in the health service, said Mr Power. Brave political decisions in implementing the Hanly report recommendations would be rewarded, he said.
The solution for funding partly rested with savings, Ms Wren suggested. Priority should be given to free primary care access, removing State subsidies to private care and to raising tax as well as lowering consultants' and doctors' pay.