Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If the Chairman will bear with me for a minute, the drugs bill is one of the largest bills paid by the taxpayer. What kind of data could the Department possibly be assembling that were not held by the Department of Health or the HSE? Is the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform coming up with data they never had? Is the Department simply going through the same steps, and has the establishment of the Office of Government Procurement delayed the process of the taxpayer possibly getting a better rate? Has the Department slowed down the process through its involvement? From the comments of Mr. Barry O'Brien, it sounds as though it has. The Department is now collecting data, but nothing is happening.