Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It might be helpful for the committee if we could get a breakdown of the number over the past five years – Mr. Woods referred to the approximately 29 new orphan drugs approved in 2021 – of new drugs that were brought into the equation in respect of reimbursement and the cost over that time. I understand there were negotiations with the pharmaceutical industry on reducing the cost of drugs that are used on a day-to-day basis. What were the cost savings as a result of those negotiations? In other words, the idea is that you would have cost savings in one area that you could then use up to make sure that we have new drugs coming on the market available at an earlier date. It would be helpful to the committee if we could have that information provided to us.

To continue, my colleague who was speaking previously was giving out about the private sector. I understand that, in fact, the time period for a drug being made available in the Netherlands is shorter compared to other countries. We had the former Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health from Belgium in earlier. In the Netherlands, it is 213 days whereas in Ireland it is 477 days in relation to a drug being made available. My understanding is that they have an engagement with the private sector in the Netherlands compared to here. Have we at any stage looked at that to see how we can make medication available in an earlier timeframe?