Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I differ with the Minister of State in his interpretation. Section 19 relates to the action to be taken by the HSE in circumstances where it makes decisions in respect of the provisions contained in section 18 which relates to the maintenance of the reimbursement list. That list will be updated from time to time and products will be added to, retained on or deleted from it. There are myriad reasons products may or may not be on the list. There are certain products which may have been on the list but which will now be removed from it. Prescribers and pharmacists should be informed when particular products are removed from the list and they should be made aware of the reasons for their removal. Let us consider the case of a person who is normally prescribed a particular medicine and may go to his or her GP, obtain a prescription and present it to the pharmacist to be filled. The pharmacist will then give the individual involved the relevant medicine while remaining blissfully unaware that it has been removed from the list. Surely there must be some mechanism by means of which prescribers and pharmacists can be informed. Am I completely missing something?