The Minister for Health says public hospital consultants should not have the time for private practice.
Leo Varadkar made the comments while addressing their annual conference in Tullamore today.
He asked doctors to not to be critics of the health service, but to be advocates for it.
President of the IHCA Dr Gerard Crotty says urgent action's needed to tackle the crisis in hospitals:
He also claimed the first two phases of Universal Healthcare, which extended free GP care to those under six and over 70, had been a success. Mr Varadkar said around 300,000 people no longer have to pay for GP visits as a result of these measures.
He expressed his hope that in the next two years he could "extend GP care without fees to all children, and expand the role of general practice to cover the management of other chronic diseases."
The Minister also said plans are underway to dismantle the HSE during the term of the next government.
