Mr. John Hennessy:

I might refer the issue raised by Deputy Brassil about whether the German assessment system is better to Professor Barry. I will also refer to him the issue of the resourcing of the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, NCPE, in which he probably has a personal interest.

Before I do that, I will make a point so that people do not get a different impression. Where possible, there is no attempt to hold back or slow down products. If it is possible to get a new product that will benefit patients into the system and into patients, we do everything we can to ensure that happens. This is particularly the case where new products substitute for existing ones where there is no affordability question. Our track record on that speaks for itself. Where it is clear that there is cost effectiveness and clinical benefits, but a substantial bill attaches, it represents a challenge to secure resources. Most people would understand that. The sums of money under discussion are enormous, running to hundreds of millions of euro, and investment is substantial. Sometimes, it takes a bit of time to secure the approvals and necessary resourcing.