Dr. Ciara Conlan:

I would like to address the BeNeLuxA initiative. Deputy Brassil is right. Belgium and the Netherlands have negotiated a deal for Spinraza but Ireland does not yet have it. That is something that is very important that we can do at national level. If we are to be part of BeNeLuxA, we need to avoid tokenism. The strength of the BeNeLuxA collaboration will depend on each country's commitment to it. If one country decides that it can get a better deal and goes it alone, it will undermine the whole agreement, which is exactly the industry wants. It all goes back to transparency. We still do not know how much Belgium and the Netherlands are paying for the drug. This information is confidential, which puts us on the back foot when we are trying to negotiate as a country. We are a small market and the company is aware of that. It already has $1.7 billion in global sales. We must commit and be accountable for our participation in BeNeLuxA.