Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

One of the common features we encounter when talking to people from the member states is the issue of the Single Market. The Single Market seems to work very well in the areas of agriculture and fisheries and in various other sectors. Ms Mizzi cannot have missed - perhaps she did - the crowd outside the gates of Leinster House today protesting in respect of the drug Orkambi. We had similar protests about other drugs designed to treat cancer. It amazes me that an Irish citizen can go to Spain to purchase his entire drug requirement for a particular illness. I am mindful of a character who went to Spain and bought his blood pressure tablets for the entire year for something like €14 or €15. They would have cost €1,000 in this country. If the Single Market is really to get in touch with the man on the street, about whom we are talking, it should be able to negotiate a Single Market price for the purchase of drugs, for example. This is a matter that is very close the hearts of citizens in this country today. The drug Orkambi, which is for cystic fibrosis, costs €150,000 per annum per patient. I am sure that if one went to Spain or some other part of the European Union, one could purchase it much more cheaply.

When Malta assumes the Presidency, it should, if it wants to get close to the man on the street, negotiate with the massive drug companies a Single Market price that would apply right across the entire European Union, such that we would not have people going on what we now call the tablet holiday. There are people who leave Ireland and go to Spain with their prescription in their pocket. They buy their drugs for the year, have a week's holiday and return having saved money. That is unbelievable. There is not a family in Europe that does not have somebody who is dependent on drugs for some illness or other. I am sorry for bringing this up but I believe it should be mentioned when talking about the Single Market.