Mr. Robbie Lawlor:

I would like to comment on the first point. I work with many patient organisation groups to put the moral spotlight on the pharmaceutical industry. We have a real problem, not only in Ireland but globally, of patient groups being pitted against each other. It may be that a case is made for not paying for prophylaxis for HIV patients because that will lead to the withdrawal of cancer drugs from babies. That is what we see represented in the media. We are pitted against each other, although we are all just trying to get the best healthcare for ourselves. We all have that moral and human right. Anger may also be directed towards politicians, as we know, and against the NCPE process.

A major part of our work as a civil society organisation is to communicate with the public to redirect that anger to something productive.

That is not to ask why the HSE is not paying for these highly overpriced drugs but to ask the fundamental question as to why we allow the drugs to be so expensive in the first place. If we can get society to ask that fundamental question, we can redirect our effort elsewhere. All stakeholders in the drug pricing paradigm need to come together to change that fundamental question.