Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I instinctively agree with the Chairman and I will revert to him directly on the specific capital project. As he indicated, the other issues are sub judice.

I believe I answered most of Deputy Durkan's questions. However, the Deputy has frequently raised with me the need to collaborate on the issue of medicines procurement. If Ireland endeavours and other countries grapple with the issue separately, we will go around in circles. We have made progress on this issue since I last met the committee. I have signed the Valletta declaration which commits Ireland to working with six other countries to engaging in, at a minimum, joint horizon scannings and health technology assessments in which we can share information about the pipeline of new drugs and work together on the issue. The declaration also leaves open the possibility of jointly procuring drugs. The challenge in this regard is that not every drug that we need may be needed in another country. This occurs for a variety of reasons. Each signatory to the Valletta declaration has been asked to put forward one or two drugs which it is interested in jointly procuring. It will be interesting to see if some common drugs emerge. This is the only way to grapple with this major issue.

Ireland and other countries will shortly arrive at the point where patients find that new and innovative technologies have become available and could improve their quality of life or extend their lives, but they are unable to access them because of the pricing structure. We have done good work with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association, the drug representative body here, on savings. The issue, however, is not only the current drug bill but the pipeline of drugs, about which I am particularly concerned. The Valletta declaration is a concrete step which we took after years of talking about collaborating internationally. I hope it will yield benefits for patients.