John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On the budget for orphan drugs, I have consistently sought a figure but cannot get it. Deputy Donnelly raised this earlier as well. Unless we have a specific budget it is difficult to make comparisons, decide how much we should spend or know how much of those savings will be reinvested in orphan drugs. That is something else we should insist on. Although I know they have the data, the companies keep coming back saying they do not. In the application process for any company, one of the questions is whether there are orphan drugs ratifications. It is in their applications so they know what is an orphan drug and what is not and, therefore, they can tell us how much they are spending on orphan drugs. They just do not want to do so.