Mr. Stephen Mulvany:

I will make a couple of points. The Minister has powers in this area, the specifics of which my colleagues can talk about.

The NCPE the Deputy mentioned is part of the overall process but the process is run inside the HSE. The HSE has a drugs committee and it will engage the NCPE to do those health technology assessments. That process is quite exhaustive. There are 13 grounds that the 2013 Act requires us to look at and the decision is not made solely on the quality-adjusted life year, QALY, number.