Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. Last Saturday morning, someone whose husband had had two heart attacks attended my clinic in Cork. He is on medication. He takes the train from Cork to Dublin and then the train from Dublin to Newry every two months to buy medication because he can get two months' supply cheaper there than he can get even one month's supply in Cork. He takes that much trouble because of the price variation.

The witnesses referred to cost savings, but let us be realistic. The cost of medication went from €570 million in 2000 to more than €2 billion in 2009. There was a significant increase in prices over a short period. The State pays more than €2 billion of a €13 billion health care budget on medicines. It is a major challenge. While progress has been made, there is much more to do and we cannot step back from trying to reduce the cost of medications.

We have examined the figures on generic drugs. In the UK, up to 80% of medication is generic. We are discussing a 40% figure for Ireland. Does Ms Gannon envisage that figure increasing further during the next three years and what percentage should we target?

In terms of what manufacturers charge pharmacies and pharmacies charge customers, what is the pharmacies' margin on generic medications and how does it vary between Ireland and elsewhere?

Mr. O'Loughlin referred to drugs in Brussels. I worked there for two years. The medication I was on at the time cost me €11.25 in Cork, but €3.25 in Brussels. The ESRI published a report in 2013. An issue arises with the cost of medication in Ireland, in that drugs are released here at an early stage. While that is welcome, the ESRI asked whether the State was likely to be disadvantaged if products tended to be launched relatively early in Ireland and, thus, the comparative average pricing mechanism in the basket of European countries did not apply as widely as it should. Essentially, we could compare prices with a wider group of countries if we entered the market later, as our current basket comprises a small group. Will the witnesses comment on this point? Should the HSE and the Department be entitled to a mid-term review of a medicine's pricing after, for example, two years in light of what it is being sold for in other countries? This would be important. If the State works with the pharmaceutical industry as well as pharmacies, we can all benefit from having new medicines available in the market at competitive prices.