Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In fairness to Mr. Judge, I know he is in a difficult situation as a representative of the Department but, in a roundabout way, that means that the Minister intervened in this scenario. As many of my colleagues have said, most notably Deputy Brassil, political pressure creates the conditions which allow the Minister to intervene. That is just reality. Professor Barry has been very open and honest about the issue. He believes that everything should go through the same process and, in fairness, Mr. Flanagan made exactly the same point. We have a situation whereby a Minister can intervene and that is something we must consider further.

I have a question for Mr. Hennessy. He was clear in what he said but what is going to happen in the context of pembrolizumab? What is going to happen to the women who will ask why they are different to Vicky Phelan? For the sake of clarity, I have spoken with Vicky Phelan in detail about this and her views are similar to mine.