Mr. John Swords:

Of course. One advantage that we have in Ireland is our reliance on distributors but less so on manufacturing, which is different to Europe. We have transport issues across the seas, as has been outlined, but it is an advantage in that we have many irons in the fire and there are more areas of supply. Nonetheless, we all rely on the transportation across the seas and how that is dealt with. We are seeing many companies and manufacturers diverting from the UK and going around the landbridge. We are getting strong information on how the supply chain operates. Another distinct advantage of Brexit coming, if one wishes to call it an advantage, is that one learns a great deal about the supply chain. We have found that the supply chain has learned a lot about itself, in that many of the distributors did not understand where their products came from but they have had to learn because of how we have probed them and how we have worked with them on this.

We are at the stage where we are satisfied that the distributors and manufacturers are looking at this in a very serious way and that they have found assurance on notifying bodies. They are willing to transfer the notifying body from the UK to an EU 27 notifying body but the capacity within that is taking time, because of the pressures on it. Deputy Donnelly asked what are the areas of risk. Whether one wishes to call it risk or contingency planning, we are forward planning on this. We are taking all the areas that have not confirmed that they have transferred the notifying body and we are looking at those areas in particular to see if we need additional stocks, which is a very concentrated effort, rather than saying that we should take stock and stockpile. The Vice Chairman asked if there was evidence of stockpiling. There absolutely is not. We took a policy decision with the Department at an early stage not to stockpile, which is the correct thing to do. As members are aware, stockpiling creates its own issues. There are peaks and valleys in manufacturing, jobs can be lost and then when one returns to it, the capacity is not there. The best supply chain is a straight line and continuity of supply, which is what we have worked on all along.

There is evidence of stockpiling in the UK, which is causing problems and concerns in some of the areas we are examining where the notifying bodies have not transferred or have not been confirmed to have transferred over. Approximately 30 companies are affected by this now across 6,500 line items. We are meeting with the companies on an ongoing basis to put the mitigating action in place. We have taken an additional 50,000 sq. ft of storage space in Ballycoolin, purposely for the event of ring-fencing stock that will be required or that we deem to be at risk. We are not saying that we are putting it into hospitals or into the NDC or that we are asking the companies to take extra; this is a contingency on top of the contingency. We have approximately three weeks' stock in the hospitals - some will have four weeks and others two and a half - and seven weeks' worth of stock used across 6,000 lines in the NDC. On top of that, the HPRA has mentioned how in the distribution of drugs in particular, there is eight to ten weeks of stock. On average, it is about six weeks. We are looking at buying some time for any issue that may arise because of notifying bodies and examining each of those areas. They are across cardiology. In the case of one particular company, we have taken in an additional four months of stock to ensure that we do not have an issue around paediatric cardiology. I refer to ophthalmics and areas like that. We are taking in surgical packs, which are very bulky. We are in discussions with the 12 suppliers we have on that and in detailed discussions with the manufacturers here. We are confident that we will be able to allay any issues which may arise in that area. Those are the types of contingencies that we are putting in place. We are at the final stages of going through scenarios. We are confident that there is supply in the system, that the distributors and manufacturers are working with us and that with the Department and the support of the HPRA, we are confident that we will overcome any issues that may arise.