Mr. Tony O'Brien:

It is fair to say that the ongoing discussions on our side on a tripartite basis involving the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Office of Government Procurement, the Department of Health and the HSE are precisely about the appropriate negotiating strategy to maximise value. Against that, we have had some instances on individual drugs where we have had very fruitful discussions with individual suppliers and others that have not been not very fruitful. The Deputy referenced at least one of those in his preliminary remarks. It is not always the case that negotiating with an intermediary is disadvantageous or that negotiating directly is advantageous.