Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are spending a lot. I would re-emphasise that the relationship between the industry and the State has not always been great, but over recent years, in fairness to the industry, the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association, IPHA, and others have engaged and the State has engaged. The two groups have engaged in a much more constructive way. I know those in the industry were disappointed at the lack of new development funding for next year and I understand that. They too understand the budgetary pressures we are under for next year. We will work together to identify switches and savings that can be had. For example, some hospitals have automated medicine dispensing and very strong control of stock management and the uses they have, as well as polypharmacy reviews to make sure the right levels of medicines are being given to patients and they are not getting medicines they do not need. However, that is not universal. As part of the productivity task force I referenced, my officials have already kicked off a piece of work looking at that €3.2 billion. They are not looking at how to reduce it but how to get more patients more medicines for that money, how to use generics and biosimilars to the greatest extent possible, how to make sure patients are getting the right level of medicines and are not being prescribed medicines they do not really need, how to make sure our management of the stock is as good as it can be, and how to make sure our pricing agreement is as good as it can be. We signed off a new pricing agreement with the pharmaceutical industry last year. It included very substantial savings, which are being reinvested into medicines.