Mr. Shaun Flanagan:

No. I genuinely do not think it does because these companies are globalised and they have made predictions of what they will sell into each market. On rare occasions we have had scenarios where, with individual shortages, companies have put two or three times what they were predicting into the Irish market and they cannot keep the stock in the market. That can cause knock-on effects into other countries. These companies have single factories around the world. They have their supply chain mapped out six or eight months in advance. If something unexpected happens in the supply chain, they do try to flex their muscles and move things back into stock.

While we are often in combat with pharmaceutical companies in terms of security supply and people reacting to pressures, in general, our experience is good. Companies genuinely want to ensure their stocks are available, if only because it is bad for their corporate otherwise. If Pfizer has a shortage it is not good for its corporate reputation. These companies jealously guard their corporate reputations, so I would not put any blame on the pharmaceutical companies for being involved in exporting. They do their best to prevent it.

They often also put in place lock-downs on stock where individual suppliers can only get so many packs per month commensurate with what they have bought historically. One will often find third parties in the market complaining about it. The reason for that, however, is that if one had only bought ten packs a month for two years, why does one suddenly need 200? They therefore put locks into their stocks to ensure that people cannot get involved in those processes. There is a sophisticated supply chain operation behind it all trying to control things.