John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank everyone for coming to the meeting and for the wonderful work that they all do both collectively and individually.

My specific area of interest is in new drugs and their availability in the system. Do the witnesses find that the slowness by which drugs are made available or reimbursed is becoming a challenge to their strategy and trying to achieve targets? We would like to be at the top end in life-saving. We went from a survival rate of three out of ten to six out of ten. Drugs are being developed to treat individual patients. If that is the way drugs are going, will we be left behind as a result of the methodology used to reimburse drugs? Is it necessary to separate oncology drugs from all other drugs because time is of the essence? If someone is being treated and a doctor can get to them early, he or she can save the person's life, but if he or she does not, there is an inevitable consequence.

I would also like the witnesses' opinion on drugs which are life-extending rather than life-saving. I have a specific interest in lung treatment where we are behind the curve. The drug, Tagrisso, is reimbursed in 20 countries but not in Ireland. It has significant life-extending capabilities for those taking it. Are reimbursement delays a false economy for the health system because of the inevitable costs that follow when somebody enters end-of-life care?