Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Breslin. In the absence of the Chairman, I have the list of speakers and as my name is at the top, I will ask my questions first if members agree.

Much has been made of the preparations for the legislation. While it has not yet been published, we have an idea of what it will contain. I am relieved to note that it appears a good degree of work has already been done by the HPRA.

The previous witnesses spoke of the need to bring everybody together to ensure they were all sitting around the same table.

I will ask the witnesses the same questions that were asked of those groups. Has the HPRA been involved with the Department of Health and in these meetings? Is there an understanding across the board on how prepared or otherwise Ireland is for the implementation of the legislation?

My second question relates to safety. For anybody who cares to look, I presume that there is evidence with regard to the safety of the proposed drugs and that is not proposed to use anything new or different. Is it proposed to use drugs used in other jurisdictions that have a good safety record and so on?