Ms Clair Kelly:

I will refer to Deputy Durkan's question about the quickest route. We heard much today about Europe and what we can do there. Ironically, 80% of children in Europe are receiving this treatment, so we are one of the last to facilitate it. I can give an example of some of the mechanisms and programmes that are out there around Europe. In England and Scotland, they have individual funding requests for treatment and these can be applied for while the assessment process is ongoing. In Italy, they have fast-track mechanisms and in France they have authorised temporary use in the case of a condition that is life threatening or where there is no therapeutic alternative. That is the case for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In Sweden, county councils can individually reimburse a treatment cost, which is quite different from what we do here. In Germany, there is automatic reimbursement. There are many examples of the different ways and as Professor McElvaney has stated, we do not need to reinvent the wheel. These programmes are out there already and we need to look at what fits for us.