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

I have no wish to be divisive in this matter and thank the Minister of State for his commitment to the effect that he will consider it prior to Report Stage. However, section 19(2) states:

Where the Executive has made a relevant decision based on any expert opinions or recommendations, it shall attach copies of all such opinions and recommendations to the notice concerned under subsection (1) to be given to the supplier of the item or listed item the subject of the relevant decision.

That is fine, but the relevant information should be available to prescribers and pharmacists. In other words, they should be alerted to the fact that certain products have been added to or removed from the list. The information to which I refer should be made available online or disseminated in some other way. I have made my case. I accept that the Minister of State may have concerns about the volume of information involved, but when a product is removed from the list, people should be notified. At the very least, there should be an alert system on the website to indicate that certain products are no longer on the reimbursement list. Let us ignore for one moment the fact that pharmacists and doctors will be discommoded and concentrate on circumstances where a particular product might be prescribed and the GP or pharmacist involved is not aware of its removal from the list. The very fact that these professionals have not been informed will give rise to difficulties for the consumer. I ask the Minister of State to re-examine this matter.