Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Walley for his presentation. I fully support what was said about the Competition Authority's decision being incorrect. Is the pending legal challenge likely to be heard and dealt with before the end of this year? We need the matter to be clarified. I do not agree with the decision and it has caused a lot of frustration.

I want to touch on the cost of health care. In excess of €3 billion has been taken out of the health budget over recent years. A lot of pressure was created by the level of taxation being collected, especially from 2010 onwards, and meant that a lot of budgets were cut such as education. The budget ha been substantially increased due to the fact that the cost of medications was left unchecked. Over a period of ten years the cost increased from €560 million to more than €2 billion a year. This year the budget will not be much under €2 billion. If we want to increase the funding provided for GP services, we will have to make savings elsewhere. One of the areas where we must make savings is on the cost of drugs, particularly when some medications are four to five times more expensive here than in other EU countries. We have brought in the long overdue legislation on generic drugs. From the point of view of practitioners, what else can we do to make savings in terms of the cost of medication? Any savings could be given to members of the IMO and would improve practices. How does the IMO see the matter developing over the next few years?