Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

-----where it is like for like. Under the legislation there must be a legal framework for the system. We will have, for want of a better term, a technical group that will advise on what can be substituted for what. We will begin with a small number of drugs and move on. It generally takes a couple of years for countries to move fully from the old system to a reference pricing or generic substitution system. If for some reason a person wants a branded product even though it is unnecessary for his or her ailment, he or she obviously will have to pay for it.

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