Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The reason I asked the question is that for people on medication for pain relief, there are ways of treating pain relief other than through medicine. Sadly, the medicine people are taking while waiting for a hip replacement can have a damaging impact on the body. If at a future date a device was developed that would provide pain relief and would be an effective substitute for medicine, should not the Bill provide for that scenario? If such a device was developed the response from the Department of Health would be that it would require amending legislation before going through the HSE primary care reimbursement service, PCRS, to facilitate the equipment. We are talking about a remote possibility of this happening but as the Minister of State will argue later, this is a blueprint for developments at a later date. Given that the Irish Medicines Board will put much of the flesh on it should it not be provided for in the legislation?