Dr. Michael McCarthy:

It is very stringent. We demand more information of commercial companies compared to other countries. It could be more transparent. I think the Department released a tracker that gives some information on drugs going through the process but it could do with an overhaul to make it easier to apply to and more transparent. At the moment, looking at it from a private perspective, if the drug company gets EMA approval for its drug in principle, that is available to private hospitals. In the public system, the first step is that a company needs to apply to the HSE for reimbursement. If it does not apply, there is no route for us to ever get access to the drug. A company does at some point apply for about 50% of the emerging drugs approved by the EMA. There are delays on both sides. If the process was easier to comply with, we would see a higher rate of application for reimbursement.