Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 23 April 2015

Public Accounts Committee

2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive
Chapter 14 - Procurement by the Health Service Executive
Health Service Executive Financial Statements 2013

10:00 am

Mr. Tony O'Brien:

I would not use the term "tackled". We are in the process of tackling it in line with the intent of the legislation. We are sequentially, by volume and cost - which is where we would expect to start - referencing down against the European average basket as provided for in the legislation. We are not yet at the levels achieved in the UK, where this has been done for a considerable period now. By revisiting the reference pricing we are moving further in that direction. We are obliged under the legislation to take into account the impact of what we do on continuity of supply. Consequently, we are proceeding with a degree of caution. The targets that have been set, in terms of the reductions to be achieved, are being met. It is a longer journey than we have currently travelled.

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