Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

This process can be off-putting for people who have difficulty engaging with it. It is up to us to recognise such moments and ask whether a matter of public interest arises. Of course, one does. The drug in question has been around for a long time and has been associated with many difficulties, for example, reports of people experiencing serious illnesses and committing suicide.

The petition has been brought and we should treat it seriously. Perhaps we should take the weight off of the petitioner and ask the Irish Medicines Board for its opinion, whether it is satisfied with the list of contra-indications supplied with the drug, whether it is satisfied that those are up to date and whether it has received requests from members of the public, general practitioners, GPs, or consultants to remove the drug from the market. We could write to the European Medicines Agency in tandem and ask for its advice. In this way, we can determine the position, leave the petition open and decide on whether to take further action following the organisations' responses. I hope that this approach will show the petitioner that we are trying to assist him and do not expect him to engage with the process directly.