Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is interesting that Dr. Harkin would hold out the hope for BeNeLuxA because it is important that it would deliver. Outside our roles as Deputies or Senators, is there anything practical that we as a committee can do in response to the issues he raised? We may not all agree on everything and there are people here who have a much more benign view of pharmaceutical companies than I do but we are all agreed that the system is not working, that it is not delivering for patients and that a system where the sick person who makes the most noise is the one who gets the treatment is not a good system. None of us can stand over that. We could pin all our hopes on a Damascene conversion from the big pharmaceutical companies in respect of morality or we could consider what practical steps we as a committee could take to address the issues. If the witnesses have a suggestion for something that the committee could do to address some of the issues raised, notwithstanding the variance of views, we are all united on the fact that the system is not fit for purpose, is not working and is not delivering for patients.